1. U.S. History
Answers to Handout #1 and Handout #2
Senate
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1. Total # = 100
2. Per State = 2
3. Length of Term = 6 years
4. Minimum Age = 30
5. Citizenship Requirement = 9 years
6. ⅓ of the entire Senate is elected every two years
7. Has power to try impeachment (act as judge and jury)
8. The Senate = equal representation
9. The Vice-President is the President of the Senate
10. Elects the President Pro Temp to run meetings
House of Representatives
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1. Totals = 435
2. Per state = varies based on population
3. Length of Term = 2 years
4. Minimum Age = 25
5, Citizenship Requirement = 7 years
6. 435/435 of the entire house is elected every two years
7. Has power to impeach (officially charge an official)
8. The House of Representatives = proportional representation
9. Elects a Speaker of the House
The Legislative Branch is “Senate” and “House of Representatives”
We have a bicameral legislature
Here is what both Houses of Congress have in common
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1. Decides if members are qualified to serve
2. Cannot hold other government jobs or receive salary from other government jobs
3. Cannot be arrested for civil crimes while they are meeting
4. Elects its own officers
5. Paid out of the Treasury of the United States
6. Must meet at least once a year
7. More than half the members need to be present to conduct meetings ( quorum )
8. Has law-making officers
9. Sets up own rules of operations
10. Members can be punished for disorderly behavior, or even expelled
2. 11. Must keep official records of its proceedings
12. Must live in the state in which they are elected
13.Preamble
an introduction to a formal document, especially the Constitution
14. Federalism
the sharing of power between the federal and state governments
15. Enumerated Powers
powers belong only to the federal government
16. Reserved Powers
powers retained by the states
17. Concurrent Powers
powers shared by the federal and state government
18. Checks and Balances
a system of government where the branches of the government check and limit
the other branches
19. Amendments
changes to the Constitution
20. Implied Powers
powers are not specifically defined in the Constitution
21. Judicial Review
the rights of the Supreme Court to determine if a law violates the Constitution
22. How does the Preamble outline the goals of the Constitution?
variable answers per person.
PowerPoint based on Red Textbook says:
We the People = The power of government comes from the people
in order to form a more perfect union = states need to agree as one country
establish justice = treat each citizen equally
insure domestic tranquility = keep peace among the people
provide for the common defense = power to maintain armed forces in protecting the country
promote the general welfare = maintain order, protect individual liberties, try to keep citizen
from poverty, hunger, and disease
secure the blessings of liberty for ourselves and our posterity = guarantee that no
American’s basic rights can be taken away now or for posterity
23. What are the three underlying principles of the Constitution?
popular sovereignty, limited government, federalism
24. Why is Constitution called a “living” Constitution?
it is strong but flexible - in other words, it can be modified yet has enough structure to survive
over many, many years
3. Article I, Section 8
1. Which branch of government has the power to raise taxes? Legislative Branch
2. Congress can borrow money
3. Congress can regulate trade with foreign nations and between the states (INTERSTATE) and
with Indian Tribes
4. Congress can decide how people will become citizens. This process is called Naturalization.
5. Congress can create uniform bankruptcy laws across the country
6. Congress can coin money
7. Congress decides on uniform measurements and weights
8. Congress regulates counterfeiting laws
9. Congress can create new Post Offices
10. Congress can create Patent and Copyright laws
11. Define “patent”: It is an exclusive right given to an inventor to make, use, and sell his
invention for a certain period of time
12. Define “copyright”: It is the exclusive right for a person to publish and sell his or her
literary, musical, or artistic work
13. Congress can create lower courts
14. Congress can create laws for the high seas
15. Congress has the sole power to declare war
16. SKIP/IGNORE
17. Congress can create letters of marque and reprisal which authorizes a ship to attack the
shipping of an enemy without being punished as a pirate
18. Congress has the power to raise an army
19. Funding of an army can only be in two year appropriations
20. Define appropriation: an act of a legislature authorizing money to be paid from the
treasury for a specified use
21. Congress can maintain a navy
22. Congress can make rules for the army and the navy
23. State militia now known as the National Guard, are organized by each state. Congress can
call them to duty at any time. Congress can make laws to govern the procedures recruiting and
training officers
24. Congress can make a capital city and regulate all land owned by the US
25. The Elastic Clause also known as the “Necessary and Proper Clause”; this, along with the
Commerce Clause represents “implied” power
26. Congress cannot regulate the slave trade until 1808
27. Congress cannot suspend the Writ of Habeas Corpus UNLESS in cases of rebellion and
invasion
28. Congress cannot pass Bill of Attainder (a legislative act that punishes a person without a
trial) or ex post facto laws (those that criminalize actions after the fact)
29. Congress cannot tax exports
30. Congress cannot spend money without a law
31. Government officials cannot accept titles of nobility
4. 32. The President and Congress cannot accept gifts from foreigner without Congressional
approval
33. States cannot make treaties with other countries, they cannot pass Bills of Attainder, or
pass ex post facto laws, they cannot grant Marque and Reprisal, coin money
34. States cannot regulate foreign trade or interstate trade
35. States cannot keep a standing army or declare war; except for invasion