We the People Study Questions

Unit 1 – Objectives

You should be able to:

1) Describe the major ideas of the natural rights philosophy, including natural rights, the purpose of government, consent, and the social contract.

2) Describe the major ideas of republican government, including self interest, civic virtue, the common good, and representative democracy.

3) Describe the major ideas of constitutional government, including higher law, constitutionalism, separation of power, and checks and balances.

4) Explain the evolution of thinking about individual rights beginning with the classical periods in Greece and Rome through the Age of Enlightenment.

Unit 2 - Objectives:

You should be able to:

1. Describe the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation and explain why the Founders wanted to change the Articles.
2. Describe the plan the Framers used to create the Constitution.
3. Describe how the Framers designed the Constitution to limit the powers of the national government and protect the rights of the people, including separation of power, checks and balances and enumerated powers.
4. Describe how the Framers organized the legislative, executive and judicial branches of the national government, the powers delegated to each branch, and the limitations imposed on their exercise of authority.
5. Explain why the Framers wanted the Constitution ratified by the people rather than state legislatures.
6. Explain the differences between the Federalists and Anti-Federalists were related to differing opinions of the requirements of the natural rights philosophy, republicanism and constitutionalism.
7. Evaluate, take and defend positions on issues related to the creation of the Constitution and on the controversies between the Federalists and Anti-Federalists.

Unit 3 - Objectives

You should be able to:

1. Describe the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation and explain why the Founders wanted to change the Articles.
2. Describe the plan the Framers used to create the Constitution.
3. Describe how the Framers designed the Constitution to limit the powers of the national government and protect the rights of the people, including separation of power, checks and balances and enumerated powers.
4. Describe how the Framers organized the legislative, executive and judicial branches of the national government, the powers delegated to each branch, and the limitations imposed on their exercise of authority.
5. Explain why the Framers wanted the Constitution ratified by the people rather than state legislatures.
6. Explain the differences between the Federalists and Anti-Federalists were related to differing opinions of the requirements of the natural rights philosophy, republicanism and constitutionalism.
7. Evaluate, take and defend positions on issues related to the creation of the Constitution and on the controversies between the Federalists and Anti-Federalists.

Unit 4 - Objectives:

You should be able to:

1. Explain why the Bill of Rights provided limited protection of individual rights prior to the Civil War.
2. Explain the purposes of the Civil War Amendments and civil rights legislation during Reconstruction and describe the effectiveness of these measures in protecting individual rights.
3. Explain what is meant by incorporation and describe the arguments over the incorporation of the Bill of Rights
4. Describe the evolution from Reconstruction to the present of the due process of law and equal protection clauses of the fourteenth amendment.
5. Describe how Americans have used constitutional means to challenge laws that unfairly discriminate against women and members of racial and ethnic minority groups.
6. Explain the purposes of affirmative action programs and the tension between the ideas of equality of condition.
7. Describe the evolution of voting rights in the United States from the adoption of the Constitution to the present.
8. Evaluate, take, and defend positions related to the expansion of individual rights under the Constitution.

Unit 5

Unit 6

Explain the term “cit