NOTE TO TEACHERS: In above image, voters express their will to the government. This concept is called popular sovereignty.
Checkpoint Answer: By dividing power among three branches, it makes it very difficult for any one branch to assume too much authority. The only way the government could abuse its powers is if every branch agreed to work together, which is unlikely given all the different individuals and goals involved.
Diagram question answer: Under the Articles of Confederation, states regulated trade among themselves with disastrous results for the national economy. Having interstate trade disputes settled by the central government is an efficient and fair way of ensuring that such disputes do not cause national problems.
Checkpoint Answer: The clause can be “stretched” to provide a wide range of implied powers, as long as those powers can be seen as necessary to carry out the expressed powers granted by the Constitution.
NOTE TO TEACHERS: In this image, President George W. Bush meets with Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany at the 2007 G8 Summit.
Answer: As there are separate federal and state laws, each level of government needs separate law enforcement agencies to ensure that its laws are obeyed.
Answer: The cartoon figure of Andrew Johnson is attempting to do something that would violate the Constitution, but because it is the Supreme law of the land, he is smashed under the weight of its ultimate authority. This signifies that even the President is not above the Constitution.
NOTE FOR TEACHERS: Today, 2/3 of the states means that 34 must propose an amendment and ¾ of the states means that 38 states must ratify an amendment. In the past 40 years, Congress has come close to calling a national convention twice at the request of the states; once to change a Supreme Court decision about voting rights, and the other time to require a balanced federal budget except in times of war or national emergency.
Checkpoint Answer: Amendments are proposed at the federal level and ratified at the state level, thus dividing the power to change the Constitution between the central government and the states.
Checkpoint Answer: The Constitution might never have been ratified without the promise that a bill of rights would be added to the document. Students should also note that the Bill of Rights spells out many of the fundamental liberties that Americans take for granted each day. If it were left solely to the state constitutions to protect these rights, they might not be shared by all American citizens.
NOTE TO TEACHERS: The above image depicts Inez Milholland, who fought to amend the Constitution to allow women’s suffrage.
NOTE TO TEACHERS: Above image shows a coin that was a symbol of the anti-slavery movement.
NOTE TO TEACHERS: Above image shows the first women to vote in Brooklyn, New York.
NOTE TO TEACHERS: In the image above, Harry Truman delivers the first televised State of the Union.
NOTE TO TEACHERS: Image above shows a delegate. Delegates play an important role in shaping the U.S. Government.
Checkpoint Answer: Political parties have shaped the nomination and election of the President in ways never mentioned by the Constitution. They have also influenced the process of appointing public officials, as the President must consider party affiliation when nominating appointees as well as the custom of senatorial courtesy, which is based partly on party affiliations.
Checkpoint Answer: The two-term limit on Presidents and the official succession of the Vice President to the office of President when the President dies or is otherwise forced to step down.