Answer:
Explain how the Constitution strengthened the federal government.
It allowed the federal government to levy and collect taxes, to keep an standing army, and to prusue a unified foreign policy instead of each states following its own foregin policy.
Explain the political problems that resulted from a weak central government under the Articles of Confederation. n:
The central government under the Articles of Confederation could neither raise taxes nor keep an standing army. The government was broke and defenseles. It was too weak and could not aspire to protect itself from a powerful foreign enemy, for example, Britain.
Explain the political disagreements that led to important compromises in the creation of the Constitution.
The most important compromise was the Connecticut Compromise. It consists in the creation of a bicameral Congress: the Senate favoring the smaller states, and the House favoring the larger states (population-wise).
Describe each branch of government and explain the duties of each.
- Executive Branch - headed by the President. The President is commander in chief of the armed forces, leads the foreign policy of the country and signs acts of congress into laws.
- Legislative Branch - The US Congress has the power to create laws, to raise taxes, to ratify treaties with other nations, and to declare war. It also has the important function of presidential oversight: Congress checks the president power, and has the right to impeach him.
- Judicial Branch - consists of the US Supreme Court, District Courts, and other federal courts. Their main function is to interpret existing law and provide justice. The US Supreme Court also has the power to excercise judicial review over existing laws, and can nulify them if it finds them unconstituional.
Describe the checks and balances that exist between the branches.
- Congress oversees the president and has the power to impeach the president.
- The president can refuse to sign a bill passed by Congress.
- The president can shut down the US Federal Government in case of gridlock.
- The president nominates SCOTUS justices.
- The SCOTUS excercises judicial review over acts of congress and executive orders.
Explain the Bill of Rights and why it was added to the constitution.
The Bill of rights is the first ten amendments to the US Constitution. The Bill of Rights was added to explicitly guarantee certain personal freedoms, such as freedom of religion, freedom of speech, and the right to bear arms.
