Foundations of the American Political System Quick Check
Analyze the impact of the Great Debate between the Federalists and Anti-Federalists regarding ratification of the U.S. Constitution.
Americans permanently divided into two factions, even after the Constitution was ratified.
Americans recognized that the Constitution was a document that could be modified when necessary. ✅
James Madison realized he would need to create an entirely new Constitution for the nation.
The Constitution would never work effectively because people disagreed on what it should contain.
What were Americans’ experiences with political compromise before the Constitution was ratified?
Americans were in total agreement with one another as they drafted the new U.S. Constitution.
Delegates to the Constitutional Convention agreed to many compromises to create the Constitution. ✅
Americans had never experienced political compromise because they focused on majority rule.
Political compromise seemed impossible because of all the factions in the U.S.
Which of the following best identifies how Greek and Roman democratic ideals became part of the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights?
The American political leaders did not want any ideas from the English common law in their government.
The American political leaders wanted to combine having a king with more classical democratic elements in the government.
American political leaders wanted to create an alternative to classical republicanism for their government.
The Enlightenment ignited American political leaders’ interest in these classical ideas and how to apply them to the present. ✅
How did Greek and Roman democracies impact the design of the U.S. government as it was being created in the eighteenth century?
Political leaders created the U.S. government with the exact same structure as the ancient democracies.
The designers of the government borrowed elements of these governments in structuring the U.S. federal government. ✅
Early political leaders used the ancient democracies as examples of bad government that they did not wish to use.
Like the ancient democracies, all citizens were eligible to vote.
Which of the following statements best assesses the effects of the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights on other governments?
Because the U.S. documents do not include enough focus on human rights, countries are speaking out against them.
By the late twentieth century, few governments in the world had been inspired by the U.S. documents.
Today, the influence of the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights is increasing around the globe in a variety of new ways.
American ideas were highly influential even if other governments did not have lasting success implementing them. ✅