Find the Constitution's principles in its actual text

Grade 12 Social Studies Worksheet - Building Confidence

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Use this

   Cards A to C on where power comes from (the excerpts are exact; card C is made up). Card A, "The Preamble (1787)". Who made it: the Constitutional Convention. When: September 17, 1787. For whom: the people of the United States. Why: to say why the Constitution was made. Excerpt: "We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America." Card B, "The Tenth Amendment (1791)". Who made it: Congress proposed it and the states ratified it. When: 1791. For whom: the people of the United States. Why: to say what powers stay outside the national government. Excerpt: "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people." Card C, "A made-up law". Who made it: written for this sheet. Summary in our words, not a quotation: Congress passes a law that sets the price of bread in every town. The law names no clause of the Constitution as its source. A baker in the made-up town of Lindle says the law goes beyond Congress's powers.

2. 1.

   Ren reads card A. What does "We the People … do ordain and establish" show about where the Constitution's authority comes from?

   • It comes from direct rule by the people, who make each law themselves, since the preamble starts with "We the People"
   • It comes from the people, who ordain and establish it, and not from a king or from the States as such
   • It exists to form a more perfect Union, because the preamble gives that aim before it lists the others
   • It comes from the States, which ordain and establish the Constitution before the people agree to it
3. 2.

   Esme reads card B. Which powers does it leave with the States or the people?

   • Powers that the Constitution delegates to the national government, which the States may then share
   • Any power the Constitution does not name, even a power that the Constitution prohibits to the States
   • Powers that the Constitution neither delegates to the national government nor prohibits to the States
   • Powers over local matters such as roads, because the card names the States first and the people second
4. 3.

   Congress sets the price of bread in every town (card C). Noah reads cards A and B. What can they settle?

   • They cannot settle it, because neither card shows whether the Constitution delegates that power to Congress
   • The law is invalid, because card B reserves economic powers to the States and the price of bread is economic
   • The law is valid, because the preamble aims to promote the general Welfare, which covers the price of bread
   • The law is invalid, because the preamble gives the people, not Congress, the power to set prices

5. Use this

   Cards A to C on three branches and checks (the excerpts are exact; card C is made up). Card A, "The Constitution (1787), the first section of three articles". Who made it: the Constitutional Convention. When: September 17, 1787. For whom: the states and the people. Why: to set up the national government. Excerpt 1 (Article I, Section 1): "All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives." Excerpt 2 (Article II, Section 1): "The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America." Excerpt 3 (Article III, Section 1): "The judicial Power of the United States, shall be vested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish." Card B, "Removal from office". Same maker, date, readers and aim as card A. Excerpt (Article II, Section 4): "The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors." Card C, "Four made-up actions". Who made it: written for this sheet. Summary in our words, not a quotation: Action 1: Congress passes a law. Action 2: The President vetoes the law. Action 3: A federal court decides a contract case between two neighbors. Action 4: A federal agency enforces a different law that Congress passed.

6. 4.

   Luz reads the three excerpts on card A. What does "shall be vested" show about the three kinds of power?

   • The President holds the executive power, because Article II places it in a President of the United States
   • Each body may use the power of the others when it is needed, because "vested" means shared among them
   • Each kind of power is placed in its own body, so no single body holds all three kinds of power
   • Congress holds all three powers, because Article I comes first and names the body that makes the laws
7. 5.

   Tala reads card C. Which action is one branch checking another?

   • Action 1, Congress passing a law, because a law limits what the other two branches are free to do
   • Action 2, the President's veto of the law, because it lets the executive limit what Congress passed
   • Action 4, an agency enforcing a law, because the executive holds Congress to the law that it passed
   • Action 3, a court deciding a contract case, because the court settles a dispute the other branches left open
8. 6.

   Pia puts cards A to C together. Which claim do they support?

   • Congress holds the legislative power, because the first excerpt on card A vests it in a Congress
   • Each branch can veto the acts of both other branches, because each article vests its own power
   • Power is divided among three bodies, and a veto shows one body can limit what another has done
   • The courts can remove the President, because removal is a judicial act when treason or bribery is charged

9. Use this

   Cards A to C on the highest law (the excerpts are exact). Card A, "Article VI (1787)". Who made it: the Constitutional Convention. When: September 17, 1787. For whom: the states and the people. Why: to say which law is highest. Excerpt: "This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding." Card B, "Article III, Section 2 (1787)". Same maker, date, readers and aim as card A. Excerpt (in part): "The judicial Power shall extend to all Cases, in Law and Equity, arising under this Constitution, the Laws of the United States, and Treaties made, or which shall be made, under their Authority…" Card C, "Marbury v. Madison (1803)". Who made it: Chief Justice John Marshall, writing the opinion of the Supreme Court. When: 1803. For whom: the parties, other courts and the public. Why: to explain the Court's decision. Excerpt: "It is emphatically the province and duty of the judicial department to say what the law is. Those who apply the rule to particular cases, must of necessity expound and interpret that rule. If two laws conflict with each other, the courts must decide on the operation of each."

10. 7.

    Bo reads card A. What does "the supreme Law of the Land" make of a State law that conflicts with the Constitution?

    • The State law controls inside its State, because the Constitution leaves local law to the States
    • The State law is wiped out everywhere, including State matters that the Constitution does not cover
    • The State law gives way, and State judges must follow the Constitution and federal law instead
    • The State law stands until the Supreme Court has decided the conflict, since card A names no other judge
11. 8.

    A State law conflicts with a treaty made under the authority of the United States. Milo applies card A. What follows?

    • The treaty controls, because treaties made under national authority are part of the supreme Law of the Land
    • Neither controls until the voters of the State approve the treaty, because the people ordain the law
    • The later of the two controls, because card A ranks laws by their dates and not by their source
    • The State law controls, because the State keeps the powers that the treaty does not list by name
12. 9.

    Zee lists questions about the two constitutional excerpts, cards A and B. Which question can they not answer?

    • Whether treaties made under national authority count as part of the supreme Law of the Land
    • Whether State judges are bound by the Constitution when State law says something different
    • Whether courts may declare a law of Congress void because it conflicts with the Constitution
    • Whether the judicial power of the United States covers cases that arise under the Constitution itself
13. 10.

    Kira puts card B and card C together. Which claim do the two cards support?

    • Cases under the Constitution are for the courts, and Marshall says deciding them means interpreting the law
    • Courts may hear just cases under the Constitution, because card B lists no other kind of case
    • The Constitution says in so many words that courts may void laws, and Marshall just repeats it
    • Judges must expound and interpret the rule when they apply it to a particular case, as card C says