Where American government's ideas came from

Grade 12 Social Studies Worksheet - Building Confidence

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Use this

   Cards A to F. Card A, Athens, a summary in our words, written today: From about 508 BCE, adult male citizens of Athens met in an Assembly and voted on laws themselves. Women, enslaved people and foreigners could not vote. Card B, the Roman Republic, a summary in our words, written today: From 509 BCE (the traditional date), Roman citizens elected officials, two consuls each year, instead of being ruled by a king. A Senate advised them. Card C, Virginia's House of Burgesses, a summary in our words, written today: It first met on July 30, 1619, at Jamestown. It was the first elected assembly in the English colonies in America, and it made some local laws. Card D, the Mayflower Compact, a summary in our words, written today: It was signed in November 1620 by 41 men aboard the Mayflower. They agreed to form a "civil body politic" and to make and obey laws for the general good. Card E, the Constitution of 1787, a summary in our words, written today: Voters in each state chose the members of the House of Representatives, and state legislatures chose the senators. Congress made laws for the nation. Card F, a note from the sheet: the founders knew examples like these and wrote about some of them. No card says that any founder copied one.

2. 1.

   Ari says Athens and the 1787 plan both had citizens vote on laws themselves. Compare cards A and E. What do the cards support?

   • The claim holds, since voters took part in government in both places and that makes them the same kind of system
   • Only Athens did; under card E, chosen members of Congress made the laws, so the claim fits Athens alone
   • The claim holds, since the founders knew Athens and copied its Assembly when they built the House
   • The claim holds, since the Assembly and the House both met to pass laws, so their members did the same job
3. 2.

   Bo compares cards B and E with card A. What do the Roman Republic and the 1787 plan share that the Athenian Assembly lacked?

   • Both ended rule by a king, a step Athens had no need to take, so both started as republics
   • Both had a Senate, so the writers of the 1787 plan took their Senate from Rome
   • Both worked through chosen officials or members, and both had a Senate beside them
   • Both let each adult in the community vote on who would lead, which Athens did not allow
4. 3.

   Esme asks which card better fits 'a body of elected representatives': card C, the House of Burgesses, or card D, the Mayflower Compact?

   • Neither: 1619 and 1620 are too early to count as representative government of any kind, whatever the cards say
   • Card C: it was an elected assembly that made some local laws; card D describes an agreement among signers
   • Card D: its signers agreed to make laws for the general good, so they acted as representatives of the group
   • Both equally, since each came from colonists who wanted a say in making their own laws
5. 4.

   Jun writes: 'In Athens, the people ruled.' Which revision does card A support?

   • The people ruled through elected officials, as in Rome, and did not vote on laws themselves
   • Most people who lived in Athens ruled themselves by voting in the Assembly on the laws
   • The claim cannot be tested, since card A gives no number of citizens who voted
   • Adult male citizens ruled themselves; women, enslaved people and foreigners had no vote
6. 5.

   Card C says the Burgesses made 'some local laws.' Kira concludes the colonists governed themselves completely. Does card C support that?

   • Yes: it met in 1619, before the Mayflower Compact, so the colonists were already self-governing
   • No: a body that met at Jamestown could not have made real laws for anyone
   • Yes: an elected assembly means the colonists held each power over their own affairs
   • No: 'some local laws' leaves open who held the rest of the power, which the card does not say
7. 6.

   Card D says 41 men signed the Mayflower Compact. Luz says that shows the whole group agreed to be governed by law. What does the card allow?

   • Only that the 41 signers agreed; the card does not say who else was aboard or whether they agreed
   • That the signers agreed to make laws solely for their own benefit and not for the general good
   • That the whole group agreed, since a compact binds each person who sails on the same ship
   • That the Compact set up an elected assembly, like the one in Virginia a year earlier
8. 7.

   Milo writes: 'Athens gave America its government.' Which reply sticks to the cards?

   • Fair: Athens is the oldest example on the cards, so it must have mattered most to the founders
   • Empty: what the founders knew about older governments says nothing about the choices they made
   • Too weak: the cards say the four examples flowed straight into the Constitution, so Athens was one real source
   • Too strong: the cards show the founders knew examples like Athens, not that Athens gave America its government
9. 8.

   Card A dates Athens' Assembly to about 508 BCE; card B dates Rome's Republic to 509 BCE, the traditional date. Noah says Rome copied Athens. What do the dates show?

   • Not enough: one date is 'about', one is 'traditional', and Rome's is a year earlier, so no copying is shown
   • Rome copied Athens, since 508 comes before 509 and so Athens had the earlier start and could be the model
   • Athens copied Rome, since Rome's date is earlier and the earlier one is usually the model for the later one
   • Neither copied: both rose after a king fell, which explains why the dates are so close
10. 9.

    Ren says the Mayflower Compact led to the House of Burgesses. Use the dates on cards C and D. What follows?

    • It fails: a mere 41 men signed the Compact, too few to start an assembly anywhere
    • It stands: the two came in 1619 and 1620, close enough in time to be linked as cause and effect
    • It stands: the Compact was a written promise to make laws, and an assembly would need that promise first
    • The Burgesses first met in 1619, a year before the Compact of 1620, so the Compact cannot have led to them
11. 10.

    Zee claims: 'Electing officials is a modern idea that began in the English colonies.' Which single card most directly weakens it?

    • Card D: the Compact shows colonists made agreements without any elections
    • Card C: the Burgesses were elected, which shows that elections were already used in the colonies
    • Card B: Rome elected two consuls a year from 509 BCE (the traditional date), long before any colony
    • Card A: Athens' citizens voted on laws before the colonies existed, so voting was not a new idea