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Take the
Constitution Test
Twenty-five questions you
should be able to answer about the U.S. Constitution:
1.) How does the Constitution
of the United States provide for changes, so that it may be fluid with
time and appropriate for future generations?
a.) Congress may pass bills
which overrule or ignore the Constitution
b.) Judges may redefine the Constitution
c.) The Constitution can be amended
d.) Public opinion can nullify certain parts of the Constitution
2.) An amendment to the
Constitution must pass by what minimum margins?
a.) Over 50% of the vote in
the House and Senate, a signature by the president, and adoption by at
least 3/4 of the states.
b.) Over 50% of the vote in the House and Senate and adoption by at least
3/4 of the states - a signature by the president is not required.
c.) A 2/3 majority in the House and Senate, a signature by the president,
and adoption
by at least 3/4 of the states.
d.) A 2/3 majority in the House and Senate and adoption by at least 3/4 of
the states - a signature by the president is not required.
3.) When the Constitution was
first ratified, how were U.S. Senators elected?
a.) By a vote of the state
legislatures.
b.) By a vote of the people
c.) By election from the House
d.) By appointment of the president
4.) The Constitution creates
what type of government?
a.) A pure democracy
b.) A Republican form of government
c.) An aristocracy
d.) An oligarchy
5.) In the form of government
expressed in the Declaration of Independence and defined by the
Constitution, power flows:
a.) From God to the elected
officials, then to the people
b.) From the elected officials to the people - God is not involved
c.) From God to the people, then to the elected officials
d.) From the people to the elected officials - God is not involved
6.) The Constitution requires
Congress to be assembled:
a.) All year long - except
for short recesses - so that it may address any emergencies which might
arise in the states.
b.) Only once per year.
c.) Twice per year.
d.) Three times per year.
7.) The powers which are not
specifically enumerated in the Constitution as powers of the federal
government, are:
a.) Automatically given to
Congress
b.) Automatically given to the states.
c.) Given to Congress or to the states by the president
d.) Given to Congress or to the states by the Supreme Court
8.) Choose the only power in
the following list which the Constitution does not give to Congress.
a.) The power to borrow money
b.) The power to provide for the common defense of the United States
c.) The power to create a Social Security system
d.) The power to establish post offices
9.) Choose the only power in
the following list which the Constitution does not give to the states.
a.) The power to create a
Social Security system
b.) The power to create a Welfare system
c.) The power to enter into an agreement with a foreign power
d.) The power to build its own roads
10.) Prior to passage of the
16th amendment in 1913, income taxes were unconstitutional. How did the
federal government pay for itself before income taxes were collected?
a.) Import duties, excise
taxes and taxes divided among the states by population
b.) It didn't - the U.S. government was in debt and almost bankrupt
c.) A tax was paid to vote (a poll tax)
d.) Property taxes only
11.) The Constitution does
not allow any bills of attainder to be passed - bills of attainder are:
a.) Bills which would allow
the Congress to attain any of the rights of the people
b.) Bills which allow the president to attain any of the rights of the
people
c.) Bills which allow the judiciary to attain any of the rights of the
people
d.) Bills which allow forfeiture of rights or property without trial
12.) The Constitution does
not allow the passage of any ex post facto law - ex post facto laws are:
a.) Laws which take effect
before they are passed
b.) Laws which take effect before the people are notified
c.) Laws which take effect in the next legislature
d.) Laws which take effect after any need for the law exists
13.) The Constitution allows
the president to make treaties and agreements with foreign powers,
providing that
a.) A 2/3 majority of the
Senate concurs
b.) Over 50% of the House and Senate concur
c.) A 2/3 majority of the House and Senate concur
d.) A 2/3 majority of the House concurs
14) According to the
Constitution, the minimum infraction necessary for the impeachment of a
judge is:
a.) A felony
b.) A misdemeanor
c.) Treason
d.) Bad behavior
15.) The Senate and the
electoral college share a common reason for their existence, which is:
a.) To make government more
cumbersome
b.) To make government more deliberate
c.) To give a greater voice to the larger states
d.) To give a greater voice to the smaller states
16.) Which of the following
phrases does not appear in the Constitution?
a.) ...a wall of separation
between Church and state
b.) All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of
the United States,...
c.) No title of nobility shall be granted by the United States:...
d.) No money shall be drawn from the treasury, but in consequence of
appropriations made by law;...
17.) The Constitution states
that:
a.) The right of the people
to keep and bear arms for the purpose of gaining sustenance and for self
defense shall not be infringed
b.) The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed
unless Congress shall, by a simple majority, deem it necessary for the
safety of the people
c.) The right of the military to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed
d.) The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed
18.) The Constitution states
that the people have a right to be secure against unreasonable searches
and seizures, and requires that warrants specify:
a.) What the police want to
see
b.) The crime that has been committed
c.) The place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized
d.) The place to be searched only
19.) According to the
Constitution, a trial by jury cannot be denied if the value of the lawsuit
exceeds:
a.) $20
b.) $2000
c.) $20,000
d.) $200,000
20.) The Constitution allows
government:
a.) to restrict the uses of
land for environmental purposes
b.) to declare large tracts of land as wilderness areas
c.) to take private property without compensation for the building of
roads
d.) to take private property for public use, but only if the owner is paid
a fair price for it
21.) The Constitution states
that no person may be deprived of:
a.) Life, liberty or the
pursuit of happiness
b.) Life, liberty or property
c.) Life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness or a decent education
d.) Life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness, a decent education or
reasonable housing
22.) To whom does the
Constitution guarantee a right to vote:
a.) Citizens
b.) Citizens and legal aliens
c.) Anyone residing within the United States for more than seven years
d.) Citizens and all aliens
23.) The Constitution forbids
slavery or involuntary servitude, except:
a.) In the military
b.) As a punishment for a crime
24.) The Constitution allows
the federal government to promote the progress of science and the useful
arts by:
a.) Giving tax money to
artists and scientific research
b.) Giving authors and inventors exclusive rights to their work
c.) Establishing an endowmnent for science and the arts
d.) Deciding which of the arts and sciences should be promoted
25.) According to the
Constitution, who has the right to govern that part of the military
employed in the service of the United States?
a.) The president
b.) The Congress
c.) The Senate
d.) The Joint Chiefs of Staff
Answers for the
Constitution Test:
1.) How does the Constitution
of the United States provide for changes, so that it may be fluid with
time and appropriate for future generations?
c.) The Constitution can be
amended: Article V of the constitution states that "The Congress, whenever
two thirds of both Houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose
Amendments to this Constitution..."
2.) An amendment to the
Constitution must pass by what minimum margins?
d.) A 2/3 majority in the
House and Senate and adoption by at least 3/4 of the states - a signature
by the president is not required: Article V of the Constitution further
states that amendments "...shall be valid to all Intents and Purposes, as
Part of this Constitution, when ratified by the Legislatures of three
fourths of the several States...". A signature by the president is not
required.
3.) When the Constitution was
first ratified, how were U.S. Senators elected?
a.) By a vote of the state
legislatures: Article I, Section 3 of the Constitution states that "The
Senators of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each
State, chosen by the Legislature thereof...". This ensured that the states
would have a formidable voice in the federal government, thus making it
difficult to erode states rights. It also held down the cost of federal
elections, since statewide campaigning for a Senate seat was not required.
This Section of the Constitution was modified by the 17th amendment in
1913, which states that "The Senate of the United States shall be composed
of two Senators from each State, elected by the people thereof..."
4.) The Constitution creates
what type of government?
b.) A Republican form of
government: Article IV, Section 4 of the Constitution states that "The
United States shall guarantee to every State in the Union a Republican
form of Government...". This is not to be confused with the Republican
party, which is named after our type of government. A Republican form of
government is a representative democracy, where the people elect
representatives who cast votes on legislation to be enacted. By contrast,
a pure democracy is one in which the people vote directly on all
legislation.
5.) In the form of government
expressed in the Declaration of Independence and
defined by the Constitution, power flows:
c.) From God to the people,
then to the elected officials: The Declaration of Independence states that
"...all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with
certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the
pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are
instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the
governed." The Declaration of Independence, therefore, states that the
rights of the people are endowed by God. The Constitution sets up a
Republican form of government, whereby the people elect their
representatives.
6.) The Constitution requires
Congress to be assembled:
b.) Only once per year:
Article I, Section 4 of the Constitution states that "The Congress shall
assemble at least once in every Year..."
7.) The powers which are not
specifically enumerated in the Constitution as powers of the federal
government, are:
b.) Automatically given to
the states: The 9th amendment to the Constitution states that "The
enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights shall not be construed
to deny or disparage others retained by the people." and the 10th
amendment states that "The powers not delegated to the United States by
the Constitution, nor prohibited by it [the Constitution] to the States,
are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people."
8.) Choose the only power in
the following list which the Constitution does not give to Congress.
c.) The power to create a
Social Security system: Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution describes
the powers of Congress in detail so that the power of the various states
is not diluted. Article I, Section 8 does not allow the federal government
to create a Social Security system. The Constitution could never have been
ratified if the federal government had retained the power to collect and
disperse vast amounts of money.
9.) Choose the only power in
the following list which the Constitution does not give to the states.
c.) The power to enter into
an agreement with a foreign power: Although states may create programs
such as a Social Security system and a Welfare system under the
Constitution, Article I, Section 10 of the Constitution states that "No
state shall, without the Consent of Congress...enter into any Agreement or
Compact with another State, or with a foreign Power...". The founding
fathers were wise to make the states responsible for those powers not
enumerated in the Constitution, since competitive state-run programs will
be neither insufficient nor excessively generous. The former may cause
people to leave a particular state, whereas the latter may cause a large
enough influx of people to justify a state tax increase - which may also
drive people from a particular state.
10.) Prior to passage of the
16th amendment in 1913, income taxes were unconstitutional. How did the
federal government pay for itself before income taxes were collected?
a.) Import duties, excise
taxes and taxes divided among the states by population: Article I, Section
2 of the Constitution states that ...direct Taxes shall be apportioned
among the several States...". Article I, Section 8 states that "The
Congress shall have the Power to lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts
and Excises...but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform
throughout the United States...". and Article I, Section 9 states that "No
Capitation, [a head tax, or poll tax] or other direct, Tax shall be laid,
unless in Proportion to the Census or Enumeration herein before directed
to be taken." This means that the only continuous taxation power Congress
had was indirect taxes - import duties and excise taxes [luxury taxes].
Any direct tax on a person had to first be apportioned, or divided, based
upon the population of each state and, by definition, could only be levied
at periodic intervals. Direct taxes were levied sparingly and were used
primarily to pay war debts. This was changed in 1913 with the passage of
the 16th amendment, which states that "The Congress shall have the power
to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without
apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any census
or enumeration."
11.) The Constitution does
not allow any bills of attainder to be passed - bills of attainder are:
d.) Bills which allow
forfeiture of rights or property without trial: Article I, Section 9 of
the Constitution prevents Congress from passing any bills of attainder and
Article I, Section 10 prevents the states from doing so. Article I,
Section 9 says "No Bill of Attainder or ex post facto Law shall be
passed". Article I, Section 10 says "No State shall...pass any Bill of
Attainder, ex post facto Law, or Law impairing the Obligation of
Contracts".
12.) The Constitution does
not allow the passage of any ex post facto law - ex post facto laws are:
a.) Laws which take effect
before they are passed: Therefore, according to the Constitution, the
retroactive portion of any law is clearly unconstitutional. Article I,
Section 9 of the Constitution prevents Congress from passing any ex post
facto law and Article I, Section 10 prevents the states from doing so.
13.) The Constitution allows
the president to make treaties and agreements with foreign powers,
providing that
a.) A 2/3 majority of the
Senate concurs: Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution states that "He
[the president] shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of
the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present
concur..."
14) According to the
Constitution, the minimum infraction necessary for the impeachment of a
judge is:
d.) Bad behavior: Article
III, Section 1 of the Constitution states that "The Judges, both of the
supreme and inferior Courts, shall hold their Offices during good
Behavior...".
The founding fathers were
quite adamant that the original intent of the Constitution and its
amendments would always be enforced by the judiciary. Speaking on this
issue in Federalist #81, Alexander Hamilton (a member of the
Constitutional Convention, later to become Secretary of the Treasury under
President George Washington) stated that "In the first place, there is not
a syllable in the plan under consideration [the Constitution] which
directly empowers the national courts to construe the laws according to
the spirit of the Constitution, or which gives them any greater latitude
in this respect than may be claimed by the courts of every State."
On June 12, 1823, Thomas
Jefferson wrote to Supreme Court Justice William Johnson "On every
question of construction, carry ourselves back to the time when the
Constitution was adopted, recollect the spirit manifested in the debates,
and instead of trying what meaning may be squeezed out of the text, or
invented against it, conform to the probable one in which it was passed."
James Madison wrote to Henry
Lee on June 25, 1824 "I entirely concur in the propriety of resorting to
the sense in which the Constitution was accepted and ratified by the
nation. In that sense alone it is the legitimate Constitution...What a
metamorphosis would be produced in the code of law if all its ancient
phraseology were to be taken in the modern sense."
15.) The Senate and the
electoral college share a common reason for their existence, which is:
d.) To give a greater voice
to the smaller states: The Senate was devised as a way to balance the
power of the House, where the number of Representatives per state is
divided by population. The smaller states, feeling always at the mercy of
the more populous states, wanted a check upon this power. Each state,
therefore, was given equal power and an equal number of members in the
Senate. Likewise, the electoral college was a compromise between allowing
the president to be chosen by Congress (too much power for the legislative
branch of government) or by a direct popular vote (too much power for
large states) or by the state legislatures (too much power for the states
over the federal government). The electoral college gives each state a
number of electors equal to the number of House and Senate members for
that state. Small states, therefore, have a much greater vote than their
population would otherwise allow. Since the winner of the presidential
election in each state receives all of that states' electoral votes, this
system requires the victor to win enough states all across the country to
enable him to govern. The electoral college makes it virtually impossible
for one region of the country to elect the president of the United States.
And although this system also requires the victor to obtain a sufficient
popular vote to govern, there are times when the electoral college will
elect a president who has not obtained an absolute majority of the popular
vote. This was deemed secondary to the ultimate goal of preserving the
Union by the founding fathers.
16.) Which of the following
phrases does not appear in the Constitution?
a.) ...a wall of separation
between Church and state: The phrase "...a wall of separation between
Church and State." appears in a letter by Thomas Jefferson to the Baptist
Association of Danbury, CT on January 1, 1802 - it does not appear
anywhere in the Constitution. The eight words contained in that phrase
were taken out of context by the Supreme Court in 1947 when it struck down
school prayer in the case of Everson v. Board of Education. The Supreme
Court, which cited zero precedents for its ruling, stated that "The First
Amendment has erected a wall between church and state. That wall must be
kept high and impregnable. We could not approve the slightest breach."
Thomas Jefferson's letter says "Believing with you that religion is a
matter which lies solely between man and his God; that he owes account to
none other for his faith or his worship; that the legislative powers of
government reach actions only and not opinions, I contemplate with
sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared
that their legislature should 'make no law respecting [regarding] an
establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,' thus
building a wall of separation between Church and State." President
Jefferson's meaning was further clarified in a letter to the Reverend
Samuel Miller on January 23, 1808 when he said "I consider the government
of the United States as interdicted [prohibited] by the Constitution from
intermeddling with religious institutions...or exercises."
The 1st amendment to the Constitution states that "Congress shall make no
law respecting [regarding] an establishment of religion, or prohibiting
the free exercise thereof...".
17.) The Constitution states
that:
d.) The right of the people
to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed
The 2nd amendment to the Constitution states that "A well regulated
Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the
people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."
18.) The Constitution states
that the people have a right to be secure against unreasonable searches
and seizures, and requires that warrants specify:
c.) The place to be searched,
and the persons or things to be seized
The 4th amendment to the Constitution states that "The right of the people
to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against
unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants
shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation,
and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or
things to be seized."
19.) According to the
Constitution, a trial by jury cannot be denied if the value of the lawsuit
exceeds:
a.) $20: The 7th amendment to
the Constitution states that "In Suits at common law, where the value in
controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall
be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury shall be otherwise re-examined
in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the
common law."
20.) The Constitution allows
government:
d.) to take private property
for public use, but only if the owner is paid a fair price for it: The 5th
amendment to the Constitution says "...nor shall private property be taken
for public use without just compensation."
21.) The Constitution states
that no person may be deprived of:
b.) Life, liberty or
property: The 5th amendment to the Constitution states that "No person
shall be...deprived of life, liberty or property, without due process of
law". The 14th amendment says "...nor shall any State deprive any person
of life, liberty or property, without due process of law". The phrase
"life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" appears in the Declaration of
Independence, not the Constitution.
22.) To whom does the
Constitution guarantee a right to vote:
a.) Citizens: The 15th
amendment to the Constitution, ratified in 1870, states that "The right of
citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by
the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous
condition of servitude." The 19th amendment, ratified in 1920, states that
"The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or
abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex."
23.) The Constitution forbids
slavery or involuntary servitude, except:
b.) As a punishment for a
crime: The 13th amendment to the Constitution states that "Neither slavery
nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for a crime whereof the
party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United
States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction."
24.) The Constitution allows
the federal government to promote the progress of science and the useful
arts by:
b.) Giving authors and
inventors exclusive rights to their work Article I, Section 8 of the
Constitution states that "The Congress shall have Power...To promote the
Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to
Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their Respective writings and
Discoveries".
25.) According to the
Constitution, who has the right to govern that part of the military
employed in the service of the United States?
b.) The Congress: Article I,
Section 8 of the Constitution states that "The Congress shall have
Power...To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining the Militia,
and for governing such Part of them as may be employed in the Service of
the United States...".
Each question is worth 4
points. Grade yourself according to the following curve:
90 - 100% = A
80 - 89% = B
75 - 79% = C
70 - 74% = D
69 and below = F
And keep taking the test until you get an A!
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Foregoing provided by:
Allan Hampton
1804 S Tampa
Russellville, Arkansas 72802
Phone 479-967-8078
ahampton@cox-internet.com
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