Where American government's ideas came from

Grade 12 Social Studies Worksheet

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Use this

   Cards A to D on three early documents and what they can show (the excerpts are exact; card D is in our words). Card A, "Magna Carta (1215)". Who made it: King John and rebel barons, at Runnymede. When: June 15, 1215. For whom: the king's free men. Why: to end a revolt over the king's demands. Excerpt 1 (clause 39): "No freemen shall be taken or imprisoned or disseised or exiled or in any way destroyed, nor will we go upon him nor send upon him, except by the lawful judgment of his peers or by the law of the land." Excerpt 2 (clause 40): "To no one will we sell, to no one will we refuse or delay, right or justice." Card B, "English Bill of Rights (1689)". Who made it: Parliament, in a declaration accepted by William and Mary. When: 1689. For whom: the crown and the people of England. Why: to state the rights of Parliament and subjects after James II left. Excerpt: "That the pretended power of suspending the laws or the execution of laws by regal authority without consent of Parliament is illegal;" Card C, "The Mayflower Compact (1620)". Who made it: men aboard the Mayflower. When: November 1620. For whom: the colony's settlers and the king. Why: to set up rules for a colony before landing. Excerpt: "Do by these Presents, solemnly and mutually, in the Presence of God and one another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil Body Politick, for our better Ordering and Preservation, and Furtherance of the Ends aforesaid: And by Virtue hereof do enact, constitute, and frame, such just and equal Laws, Ordinances, Acts, Constitutions, and Officers, from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the general Good of the Colony; unto which we promise all due Submission and Obedience." Card D, "Two facts, in our words". Who made it: written for this sheet from the sources above. When: read in 2026. For whom: students. Why: to add what the cards leave out. Summary in our words, not a quotation: King John soon asked the pope to cancel the charter, and a civil war followed. The Mayflower Compact's printed list holds 41 names, all men; the ship also carried women and children.

2. 1.

   A student says clause 39 gave every English person a lawful trial. Kira reads card A. What is the best verdict?

   • Overstated: clause 39 names only freemen and binds the king, and card D shows the king soon tried to cancel it
   • Shown: judgment of his peers means trial by jury in 1215, just as the phrase is understood in courts today
   • Shown: clause 39 says no one may be seized except by lawful judgment, so every English person was protected by it
   • Worthless as evidence: a charter the king tried to cancel shows nothing about what English people thought law should be
3. 2.

   Luz reads Magna Carta and the 1689 Bill of Rights together. Which statement do cards A and B support best?

   • Magna Carta set up Parliament's right to approve laws, and card B then enforced that right against the king
   • The Bill of Rights repeats clause 39's rule of trial by peers, so one tradition ran unbroken from 1215 to 1689
   • Both put the king under law, 474 years apart, and only card B adds that suspending laws needs Parliament's consent
   • Card A limits only the barons while card B limits the king, so the two documents pull in opposite directions
4. 3.

   A student says the Mayflower Compact shows all the settlers chose their own government. Milo reads cards C and D. What can the cards support?

   • That 41 men agreed to make laws for the colony's good, not what all the women and children aboard wanted
   • Nothing: a promise made at sea before landing has no value as evidence of how the colony would later be governed
   • That the colony became a democracy, since 41 signers promised obedience to laws they would make together after landing
   • That all the settlers chose their government, since the Compact says "mutually" and promises "just and equal Laws"

5. Use this

   Cards A to F on how the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution handled money and change (the excerpts are exact). Card A, "Articles of Confederation, Article II". Who made it: the Second Continental Congress. When: adopted 1777, in force 1781. For whom: the thirteen states. Why: to say where power sits. Excerpt: "Each state retains its sovereignty, freedom, and independence, and every power, jurisdiction, and right, which is not by this Confederation expressly delegated to the United States, in Congress assembled." Card B, "Articles of Confederation, Article VIII". Who made it: the Second Continental Congress. When: adopted 1777, in force 1781. For whom: the thirteen states. Why: to say how common costs are paid. Excerpt 1: "All charges of war, and all other expenses that shall be incurred for the common defense or general welfare, and allowed by the United States in Congress assembled, shall be defrayed out of a common treasury, which shall be supplied by the several States in proportion to the value of all land within each State" Excerpt 2: "The taxes for paying that proportion shall be laid and levied by the authority and direction of the legislatures of the several States within the time agreed upon by the United States in Congress assembled." Card C, "Articles of Confederation, Article IX". Who made it: the Second Continental Congress. When: adopted 1777, in force 1781. For whom: the thirteen states. Why: to list what needs nine states. Excerpt: "… nor borrow money on the credit of the United States, nor appropriate money, nor agree upon the number of vessels of war, to be built or purchased, or the number of land or sea forces to be raised, nor appoint a commander in chief of the army or navy, unless nine States assent to the same" Card D, "Articles of Confederation, Article XIII". Who made it: the Second Continental Congress. When: adopted 1777, in force 1781. For whom: the thirteen states. Why: to say how the Articles may be changed. Excerpt: "nor shall any alteration at any time hereafter be made in any of them; unless such alteration be agreed to in a Congress of the United States, and be afterwards confirmed by the legislatures of every State." Card E, "The Constitution, Article V". Who made it: the Constitutional Convention. When: September 17, 1787. For whom: the states and the people. Why: to say how the Constitution may be changed. Excerpt 1: "when ratified by the Legislatures of three fourths of the several States, or by Conventions in three fourths thereof" Excerpt 2: "that no State, without its Consent, shall be deprived of its equal Suffrage in the Senate." Card F, "The Constitution, Article VII". Who made it: the Constitutional Convention. When: September 17, 1787. For whom: the states and the people. Why: to say how the new plan would start. Excerpt: "The Ratification of the Conventions of nine States, shall be sufficient for the Establishment of this Constitution between the States so ratifying the Same."

6. 4.

   Under the Articles one state could stop any change. Noah sets card D beside card E. What happens to that power to block?

   • Every state keeps a veto, because card E lets a state refuse the loss of its equal vote in the Senate and so any change
   • A single state keeps its power to block, since each state's legislature must still approve any change under card E
   • A single state loses its veto, but any four of the thirteen could block a change; only Senate equality needs one state
   • Any three states could block a change, since a quarter of thirteen is a little more than three states, or 3.25
7. 5.

   Congress under the Articles wants money for more troops. Pia reads cards B and C. Which statement is strongest?

   • Congress can lay the taxes itself once nine states agree, since card C lets nine states appropriate money for the troops
   • Any single state can refuse to pay, and card B lets the other twelve states force that state to pay its full share
   • Congress can borrow instead, since card C lets nine states approve borrowing, so money is never short for the troops
   • Nine states can approve borrowing or spending, but state legislatures lay all the taxes, so supply still depends on the states

8. Use this

   Cards A and B on ancient senates and the American Senate (the excerpts are exact). Card A, "The Federalist No. 63 (1788)". Who made it: James Madison, writing as Publius. When: March 1788. For whom: the voters of New York. Why: to defend giving the Senate a long term. Excerpt: "history informs us of no long-lived republic which had not a senate. Sparta, Rome, and Carthage are, in fact, the only states to whom that character can be applied. In each of the two first there was a senate for life. The constitution of the senate in the last is less known. Circumstantial evidence makes it probable that it was not different in this particular from the two others." Card B, "Article I, Section 3". Who made it: the Constitutional Convention. When: September 17, 1787. For whom: the states and the people. Why: to set up the Senate. Excerpt: "The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, chosen by the Legislature thereof, for six Years; and each Senator shall have one Vote."

9. 6.

   Zee compares the ancient senates on card A with the Senate on card B. Which claim is best supported?

   • Madison cites Rome as proof that a long-lived republic can last without any senate at all, as Rome did
   • Every long-lived republic had a senate, so a senate must be the thing that makes a republic last for long
   • Madison uses Rome and Sparta to argue every lasting republic needs a senate, but the new Senate serves six years
   • The new Senate copies Rome's: both sit for life, which Madison says history shows keeps a republic stable

10. Use this

    Cards A and B on an old rule and a new one (the excerpts are exact). Card A, "Magna Carta (1215), clause 39". Who made it: King John and rebel barons, at Runnymede. When: June 15, 1215. For whom: the king's free men. Why: to end a revolt over the king's demands. Excerpt: "No freemen shall be taken or imprisoned or disseised or exiled or in any way destroyed, nor will we go upon him nor send upon him, except by the lawful judgment of his peers or by the law of the land." Card B, "The Fifth Amendment (1791)". Who made it: Congress proposed it and the states ratified it. When: ratified December 15, 1791. For whom: the people of the United States. Why: to limit the national government in trials. Excerpt 1: "nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law" Excerpt 2: "No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury"

11. 7.

    Ari follows an old rule to a new one on cards A and B. Which statement about how they relate is best?

    • The Fifth Amendment narrows clause 39 for the nation, since "person" covers fewer people than the word "freemen" did
    • The Fifth Amendment copies clause 39 word for word to protect the same freemen against the national government
    • "Law of the land" became "due process of law," and "freemen" became "person," widening who is protected
    • Clause 39 limited the king, but the Fifth Amendment limits just the courts and not the rest of the government

12. Use this

    Cards A to C on Montesquieu and the Constitution (the excerpts are exact). Card A, "The Federalist No. 47 (1788)". Who made it: James Madison, writing as Publius. When: February 1, 1788. For whom: the voters of New York. Why: to answer the charge that the Constitution mixes the powers of government. Excerpt 1: "The oracle who is always consulted and cited on this subject is the celebrated Montesquieu." Excerpt 2: "'When the legislative and executive powers are united in the same person or body,' says he, 'there can be no liberty, because apprehensions may arise lest the same monarch or senate should enact tyrannical laws to execute them in a tyrannical manner.'" Excerpt 3: "not mean that these departments ought to have no partial agency in, or no control over, the acts of each other." Card B, "The Constitution, Articles I and II". Who made it: the Constitutional Convention. When: September 17, 1787. For whom: the states and the people. Why: to give each branch its powers. Excerpt 1 (Article I, Section 7): "Every Bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate, shall, before it become a Law, be presented to the President of the United States" Excerpt 2 (Article II, Section 2): "He shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur"

13. 8.

    A student claims the Constitution adopts Montesquieu's separation of powers unchanged. Bo tests it with cards A and B. What is the best verdict?

    • Supported: the Constitution has three branches and Montesquieu named three powers, so the match is proof of copying
    • Supported: Madison calls Montesquieu "the oracle," so the Constitution follows his maxim exactly as written
    • Not unchanged: Madison reads Montesquieu as allowing partial agency; the veto and Senate consent mix roles
    • Refuted completely: the veto and Senate consent show the Founders ignored Montesquieu and his warning entirely

14. Use this

    Card A on the votes in the thirteen state conventions (data). Card A, "State ratifying votes, 1787-1790". Who made it: the state ratifying conventions, as tabulated on Wikipedia from the Documentary History of the Ratification of the Constitution. When: December 1787 to May 1790. For whom: students of government. Why: to show how each state voted. Data and note: Yea votes against nay votes, in the order of ratification. Delaware 30 to 0; Pennsylvania 46 to 23; New Jersey 38 to 0; Georgia 26 to 0; Connecticut 128 to 40; Massachusetts 187 to 168; Maryland 63 to 11; South Carolina 149 to 73; New Hampshire 57 to 47; Virginia 89 to 79; New York 30 to 27; North Carolina 194 to 77 (a second convention, in November 1789); Rhode Island 34 to 32 (May 1790).

15. 9.

    Esme claims the Constitution won every state by a wide margin. Using card A, which verdict is best?

    • Not supported: North Carolina voted twice, so its first vote shows the plan failed in a large and important state
    • Not supported: Virginia and New York were rejected by their conventions, so the Constitution lost the two largest states
    • Not supported: three states were unanimous, but five were decided by under 10 points, Rhode Island's 34 to 32 closest
    • Supported: it won the thirteen states, and three of them were unanimous, so the states favored it strongly by a wide margin

16. Use this

    Cards A to C on a bill of rights (the excerpts are exact). Card A, "The Federalist No. 84 (1788)". Who made it: Alexander Hamilton, writing as Publius. When: 1788. For whom: the voters of New York. Why: to explain why the Constitution needs no bill of rights. Excerpt 1: "bills of rights are, in their origin, stipulations between kings and their subjects, abridgements of prerogative in favor of privilege, reservations of rights not surrendered to the prince." Excerpt 2: "They would contain various exceptions to powers not granted; and, on this very account, would afford a colorable pretext to claim more than were granted." Card B, "The Ninth Amendment (1791)". Who made it: Congress proposed it and the states ratified it. When: ratified December 15, 1791. For whom: the people of the United States. Why: to guard rights not listed. Excerpt: "The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people." Card C, "What came next". Who made it: written for this sheet. When: read in 2026. For whom: students. Why: to add what the cards leave out. Summary in our words, not a quotation: The first ten amendments, called the Bill of Rights, were ratified on December 15, 1791.

17. 10.

    Jun hears "Hamilton was proved wrong, since the Bill of Rights was added." Using cards A to C, what is the best verdict?

    • Refuted: Hamilton argued just from Magna Carta, which has nothing to do with a bill of rights for a republic
    • Shown: the amendments were ratified three years later, so each point Hamilton made against a bill of rights failed
    • Weakly supported: adding it shows many wanted one, not that his worry about implied powers was wrong
    • Shown: a bill of rights followed his essay, so his essay must have been the cause that led to the addition