The three branches: who makes, carries out and judges the laws

Grade 8 Social Studies Worksheet - Challenge Me

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Use this

   Arguing about separated powers (cards A to D). The Library of Congress says the Federalist Papers were "eighty-five essays urging the citizens of New York to ratify the new United States Constitution", written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay, and that they "originally appeared anonymously in New York newspapers in 1787 and 1788 under the pen name 'Publius.'" Card A, Federalist No. 47 (Madison; the New York Packet, Friday, February 1, 1788; Avalon Project), addressed "To the People of the State of New York": "The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many, and whether hereditary, selfappointed, or elective, may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny." He says that if the Constitution were "really chargeable with the accumulation of power", "no further arguments would be necessary to inspire a universal reprobation of the system", but that "the charge cannot be supported, and that the maxim on which it relies has been totally misconceived and misapplied." It says the departments of the British constitution are "by no means totally separate and distinct from each other", and that Montesquieu's meaning "can amount to no more than this, that where the WHOLE power of one department is exercised by the same hands which possess the WHOLE power of another department, the fundamental principles of a free constitution are subverted." Card B, Federalist No. 51 (the New York Packet, Friday, February 8, 1788; Avalon's heading reads "HAMILTON OR MADISON"): "If men were angels, no government would be necessary." The "great security against a gradual concentration of the several powers in the same department, consists in giving to those who administer each department the necessary constitutional means and personal motives to resist encroachments of the others." "Ambition must be made to counteract ambition." Card C, Federalist No. 78 (Hamilton, 1788; Avalon, from McLean's Edition, New York): "the judiciary, from the nature of its functions, will always be the least dangerous to the political rights of the Constitution". "The Executive not only dispenses the honors, but holds the sword of the community. The legislature not only commands the purse". The judiciary "has no influence over either the sword or the purse", and "may truly be said to have neither FORCE nor WILL, but merely judgment; and must ultimately depend upon the aid of the executive arm even for the efficacy of its judgments." Card D, Marbury v. Madison, 5 U.S. 137 (February Term, 1803), opinion of Chief Justice Marshall (Cornell Legal Information Institute): "It is emphatically the province and duty of the judicial department to say what the law is." "If both the law and the constitution apply to a particular case", the court must decide which governs, and "the constitution, and not such ordinary act, must govern the case to which they both apply." The Court held that the part of the Judiciary Act of 1789 that let it issue such a writ to public officers "appears not to be warranted by the constitution", so the Court did not issue the writ.

2. 1.

   Federalist No. 47 appeared under the name Publius, addressed to the People of New York. What is it best evidence for, Ari asks?

   • What the delegates debated in private at the 1787 convention in Philadelphia
   • How the Supreme Court later read the separation of powers in its decisions
   • What the opponents of the Constitution argued against it at meetings in New York
   • The case supporters made to New York voters for approving the Constitution
3. 2.

   Card A says that if the charge of accumulating power were true, "no further arguments would be necessary". What is Madison doing, Bo asks?

   • Granting that the charge would be fatal, then arguing it misreads the maxim
   • Agreeing that the charge is true and urging New York to reject the Constitution
   • Proving that powers were totally separate in Britain
   • Asking Congress to pass a law that limits the President's powers
4. 3.

   A student claims: "Madison argues that the three branches must be completely separate." How strong is that claim given card A, Esme asks?

   • Weak: he says the departments overlap in Britain, and danger comes with the whole power
   • Strong: he quotes Montesquieu, who wanted the three departments wholly kept apart
   • Weak: he does not mention Montesquieu or the British example anywhere in the essay
   • Strong: he calls the gathering of the three powers in one pair of hands tyranny itself
5. 4.

   How do the emphases of No. 47 in card A and No. 51 in card B differ, Jun asks?

   • No. 47 defends a single ruler for the nation; No. 51 defends rule by a committee
   • No. 47 says what separation does not require; No. 51 says how branches can resist
   • No. 47 asks for a stronger judiciary; No. 51 asks for a much weaker judiciary
   • They are the same argument, written twice for two different New York newspapers
6. 5.

   How does the role of the courts in card D differ from the weak picture in card C, Milo asks?

   • Card C calls courts weak; card D has the Court choose the Constitution over an act
   • Both say courts should obey Congress in a conflict between a law and the Constitution
   • Card D says the Court should have the power of the purse as well as the sword
   • Card C gives courts the sword, and card D takes the sword away from them again
7. 6.

   A student claims: "Hamilton predicted that courts could declare laws void." How strong is that claim given card C alone, Noah asks?

   • Strong: card D shows the Court did declare a law void, so Hamilton must have predicted it
   • Weak: Hamilton was not the author of Federalist No. 78, which another man wrote
   • Strong: calling the judiciary least dangerous shows that he expected it to strike down laws
   • Weak: card C calls the judiciary least dangerous and says nothing about voiding laws
8. 7.

   Using card D, which link follows from "the constitution is superior to any ordinary act of the legislature", Pia asks?

   • When a case is brought, the court must ask the President which rule to apply to it
   • When they conflict, the court must send the case to Congress to decide the matter
   • When they conflict, the court must follow the more recent law passed by Congress
   • When a law and the constitution conflict, the court must follow the constitution
9. 8.

   Card D says part of the Judiciary Act of 1789 "appears not to be warranted by the constitution", decided in 1803. How many years had it stood, and what follows, Ren asks?

   • 13 years: a law that stood for years can still be found to conflict with the Constitution
   • 15 years: a law that stood for years can still be found to conflict with the Constitution
   • 14 years: a law that stood for years can still be found to conflict with the Constitution
   • 14 years: the long wait shows that Congress knew the provision was invalid from the start
10. 9.

    Which new evidence would best test card B's claim that "Ambition must be made to counteract ambition", Tala asks?

    • Records over many years of vetoes, overrides, rulings and impeachment votes
    • A list of the states that ratified the Constitution in 1788
    • Another essay by the same author that restates his hope
    • A modern textbook that repeats the quotation in a chapter on checks and balances
11. 10.

    Avalon's heading for No. 51 reads "HAMILTON OR MADISON". Which new evidence would best settle who wrote it, Zee asks?

    • The Library of Congress note that the essays were signed with the name Publius
    • Manuscripts, letters or lists made by Hamilton and Madison at the time
    • The essay's most famous line, which most readers link to Madison
    • A later edition that prints one of the names without saying why