Federal Government of the Usa

University of Phoenix Material-Darlean Johnson

Foundations of the U.S. Federal Government Worksheet

Complete the chart below by identifying the three branches of government and their entities.

U.S. Constitution

True or False

1. The Tenth Amendment limits the power of states. True or False

2. The Constitution signed in 1787 contained the Bill of Rights. True or False

3. The Constitution created a system of dual sovereignty, meaning the federal government has exclusive power in interstate commerce. True or False

4. The president and vice president are part of the legislative branch. True or False

5. Congress can impose federal mandates, which require the state government to comply with its orders. True or False

Multiple Choice

6. The concept of dual federalism

a. ended about 1980

b. is analogous to the marble cake image of federalism

c. limited state power

d. viewed federal and state power as fixed

7. The Bill of Rights is

a. contained in the Preamble to the Constitution

b. Article I of the original Constitution

c. the first 10 amendments to the Constitution

8. The legislative branch is composed of which of the following:

a. The House of Representatives and Senate

b. The president and vice president

c. The Supreme Court

d. All state constitutions

9. The First Amendment of the Constitution regards which of the following:

a. The right to keep and bear arms

b. The right to trial by jury in civil cases

c. Limiting the power of the federal government

d. Freedom of religion, of speech, of the press, to assemble, and to petition

10. The modern-day structure of categorical federal grants-in-aid came into being

a. at the end of World War II

b. in the 1930s

c. soon after the Civil War

d. in the mid-1960s

Short Answer

Respond to each question in 75 to 100 words.

11. What are some of the historical events that shaped the formation of the U.S. federal government? Select one event you think had a major effect on the federal government. How does this event affect U.S. citizens today?

1. The birth of a nation with the signing of the Declaration in 1776.

2. In 1788 establishing a centralized republic with the sanction of the Constitution.

3. South Carolina's secession that split the Union 1860.

4. The 1865 surrender of the Confederacy.

5. Spanish-American War in 1898.

6. Annexation of Hawaii in 1898.

7. Annexation of the Philippines in 1899.

8. Pearl Harbor in 1944.

9. Hiroshima in 1945.

In 1787, the Philadelphia Convention led to the 1788 implementation and sanction of the Constitution. The Constitution is the foundation society bases decisions upon. It affects how we live and the rules we live by. It directs who can be elected and how and election is ruled. It gives core values of our government and guides the principles of how we as a nation adapt to the changing world around us.

12. Who were some of the early philosophical contributors to U.S. government? How did their ideas help shape the current government of the United States?

Benjamin Franklin (inventor, great thinker, and diplomat), Thomas Jefferson (great thinker and president), and Thomas Paine (writer and American Revolution inspiration). Franklin influenced the forming of a new nation, helps with the Declaration of Independence, and took part in the drafting of the U.S. Constitution. Jefferson helped to write the Declaration of Independence and was a signer. Paine wrote the pamphlet "Common Sense" during the American Revolution