AP US Government and Politics The Constitution and Its Origins — practice questions

1. Locke was a seventeenth-century English philosopher whom the chapter calls the most important influence on American beliefs about government. 2. His contribution concerned the relationship between government and natural rights, understood as God-given rights to life, liberty and property. 3. Because those rights came from God rather than from a king, no ruler or institution could abolish them. 4. Note that Jefferson's later phrasing in the Declaration of Independence substitutes the pursuit of happiness for property, which is the pairing students most often confuse. _Source: OpenStax American Government 3e (CC BY 4.0), Ch 2 "The Constitution and Its Origins", §2.1 The Pre-Revolutionary Period_

1. Madison drafted nineteen potential changes to the Constitution and submitted them to Congress. 2. Only twelve were approved by two-thirds of both chambers and sent to the states. 3. Of those, only ten were accepted by three-quarters of the state legislatures. 4. In 1791 these first ten amendments were added to the Constitution and became known as the Bill of Rights, intended to quiet Anti-Federalist fears about individual liberties. _Source: OpenStax American Government 3e (CC BY 4.0), Ch 2 "The Constitution and Its Origins", §2.5 Constitutional Change_

1. The supremacy clause in Article VI proclaims that the Constitution, laws passed by Congress and treaties made by the federal government are the supreme law of the land. 2. In the event of a conflict between the states and the national government, the national government would triumph. 3. Article I instead sets out the structure and powers of Congress, including the necessary and proper clause. 4. Article VII is the adjacent trap: it is the ratification article requiring approval by nine of the thirteen states. _Source: OpenStax American Government 3e (CC BY 4.0), Ch 2 "The Constitution and Its Origins", §2.3 The Development of the Constitution_