Origins of US Government Vocabulary Practice Quiz

The American Citizen at NKCHS

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Match the definitions given by each numbered item below with the correct term that is defined. When you're finished, click "submit" to find out your score, how well you know the vocabulary terms related to the origins of U.S. government. Keep taking this practice quiz until you get a perfect score!

  1. A national representative body having supreme legislative powers within a nation-state; the national legislature of various countries, especially that of the United Kingdom, made up of the House of Lords and the House of Commons; the system of government in which the leader of the executive branch (often, a prime minister) is a member of – and is selected by – the legislature, itself
  2. Your answer:
    congress
    parliament
    house of lords
    senate


  3. The document in which British nobles placed limits on royal power by forcing King John to concede important rights to them, signed by him in the year 1215
  4. Your answer:
    Parliamentary System
    Magna Carta
    Articles of Confederation
    English Bill of Rights


  5. A ruling (by a judge or other public official) that is used as a model in deciding in similar cases later on
  6. Your answer:
    parliament
    precedent
    common law
    model ruling


  7. The plan worked out in the Constitutional Convention in 1787 that provided for a bicameral legislature in which the people would be represented in the House of Representative and the states would be represented in the Senate (suggested by delegate Roger Sherman of Connecticut, sometimes called the Connecticut Compromise)
  8. Your answer:
    Virginia Plan
    Great Compromise
    Commonwealth Plan
    New Jersey Plan


  9. The plan proposed by Ben Franklin and supported by colonists in 1754 – but never carried out – to unite the British North American colonies under a confederation for purposes of taxation and defense
  10. Your answer:
    Confederate States of America
    First Continental Congress
    Albany Plan of Union
    U.S. Constitution


  11. The body of law that is based on custom, tradition, and past decisions of judges – NOT based on specific laws and/or statutes passed by lawmakers
  12. Your answer:
    statutory law
    legislative rulings
    common law
    precedent


  13. A legislature that includes two representative bodies (a two-house legislature)
  14. Your answer:
    parliamentary system
    house of burgesses
    unicameral
    bicameral


  15. At the Constitutional Convention, the proposal of government signed by William Paterson, which favored a unicameral legislature and a plural executive branch
  16. Your answer:
    New Jersey Plan
    Parliamentary Plan
    Albany Plan
    Virginia Plan


  17. The term given to those who opposed the ratification of the new U.S. Constitution and the federal system of government it created; also, the original group of people who formed the second political party in the United States
  18. Your answer:
    Republicans
    Democrats
    Federalists
    Anti-Federalists


  19. A legal document issued by a monarch to trading companies, individuals, or groups of colonists, granting permission to use land for a colony; in the modern U.S., a document that awards official recognition as a municipality (city) given by a state to a community such as North Kansas City or Gladstone
  20. Your answer:
    proprietor
    charter
    constitution
    bill of sale


  21. The minimum number of people needed to conduct official business during a session of a legislative body (such as the U.S. Congress)
  22. Your answer:
    quorum
    burgess
    unicameral
    parliament


  23. In the Constitutional Convention, this plan was designed by Edmund Randolph, and it favored a strong national government with three branches (legislative, executive and judicial) and a bicameral legislature
  24. Your answer:
    Connecticut Compromise
    Virginia Plan
    Bicameral Plan
    New Jersey Plan


  25. Term which refers to the final acceptance, or final approval, of an agreement, an amendment, or a constitution by lawmakers or by a vote of the people whom they represent
  26. Your answer:
    ratification
    final approval
    precedent
    unicameral


  27. The document which created the first American settlement based on a social contract; in U.S. colonial history, an agreement providing for the temporary government of Plymouth colony, signed (1620) on board the Mayflower by all of the adult members of the colony
  28. Your answer:
    Locke's Compromise
    Mayflower Compact
    Newton's Law
    Bill of Rights


  29. Name given by American patriots to five laws passed by the British Parliament in 1774, which limited the rights and freedoms of the North American colonists; the outcome of the storm of colonial opposition to these laws was the gathering of political and military leaders of the colonies that came to be called the First Continental Congress, which sent a Declaration of Rights and Grievances to the British government but stopped short of declaring political independence from Great Britain
  30. Your answer:
    Patriot Acts
    Legalities Lost
    Intolerable Acts
    Frugal Gourmets


  31. The original plan of unification and government of the United States of America; the first national constitution, it was in effect for only 7 years and was eventually replaced by the Constitution of 1787
  32. Your answer:
    Articles of Confederation
    Albany Plan
    Magna Carta
    Petition of Right


  33. The group of people who were in favor of the creation of a federal system of government, as outlined in the Constitution written in Philadelphia in 1787; also, the name of the first political party in the U.S., whose members included Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison
  34. Your answer:
    Whigs
    Proprietors
    Democratic Republicans
    Federalists


  35. The greatest achievement of the U.S. Congress during the period of the original confederate government, this law created structures for state governments in new territories in the Ohio River Valley and upper Mississippi River area, guaranteed religious freedom, prohibited slavery, and established rules for entering new states into the Union
  36. Your answer:
    Southwest Statutes
    Annapolis Agreement
    Albany Plan
    Northwest Ordinance


  37. A legislature, or lawmaking body, is called this if it has just one legislative body
  38. Your answer:
    unicameral
    bicameral
    tricameral
    legicameral


  39. Britain's policy of non-interference in its North American colonies' internal affairs in order to increase the colonies' productivity and value
  40. Your answer:
    royal colonialism
    salutary neglect
    charter government
    ratification


  41. The first written constitution in British North America, this document formed a colony from Connecticut's early towns
  42. Your answer:
    Magna Carta
    Mayflower Compact
    Iroquois Confederation
    Fundamental Orders


  43. A group of persons gathered together for a common reason, possibly for a legislative, religious, educational, or social purpose; the common and very general term given to a legislature
  44. Your answer:
    quorum
    burgess
    assembly
    charter


  45. This 1765 revenue law, passed by the British Parliament and the first direct tax to be levied on the American colonies, required that all newspapers, pamphlets, legal documents, commercial bills, advertisements, and other papers issued in the colonies bear a official government stamp; it was vehemently denounced in the colonies by those it most affected: businessmen, merchants, journalists, lawyers, and other powerful persons
  46. Your answer:
    Stamp Act
    Northwest Ordinance
    Ratification Act
    Mayflower Compact


  47. An individual who was granted by the British monarch the legal right or exclusive title to a parcel of land in the British North American colonies
  48. Your answer:
    royal charter
    burgess
    proprietor
    ratify


  49. The document in which Queen Mary II and King William III recognized certain basic rights of the people of England in 1689, some of which were later included in the U.S. Constitution (especially the amendments at the end of the document)
  50. Your answer:
    Stamp Act
    Intolerable Acts
    Royal Charters
    English Bill of Rights


  51. The demand by the British Parliament in 1628 that King Charles agree to further limitations on the power of the monarchy, asserted four principles: no taxes may be levied without consent of Parliament; no subject may be imprisoned without cause shown (reaffirmation of the right of habeas corpus); no soldiers may be quartered upon the citizenry; martial law may not be used in time of peace
  52. Your answer:
    Articles of Confederation
    Northwest Ordinance
    Petition of Right
    Magna Carta


  53. A constitutional list of the basic civil liberties of U.S. citizens; the first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution, added in 1791 to protect certain rights of citizens
  54. Your answer:
    Albany Plan
    Royal Charter
    Petition of Right
    Bill of Rights


  55. A member of the House of Burgesses, the first elected representative lawmaking body in the British North American colonies
  56. Your answer:
    parliamentarian
    senator
    burgess
    burgermeister



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