Name: ______________________ SOL Review: Government and the New

Republic

Part 1: New Ideas About Government

No More Kings! People have RIGHTS and POWER.

Most of the countries in Europe were ruled by a _______________. This form of

government is called monarchy. The American colonies were part of the
British empire, so they were ruled by the British king. In a monarchy, the
king or queen has all of the power. The regular people do not have any
power and often do not have any rights. The king or queen makes all of the
decisions.

John Locke knew that a monarchy is not the best form of government. He
believed that all people are born with rights, called ________________ rights.
He said that all people have the right to life, liberty, and ____________________.

John Locke even said that the people get to decide how powerful they want
their government to be. Most importantly, he said that government MUST
____________________________.

The colonists were dissatisfied with the British king for many reasons. They
did not think that the king was protecting their rights. They read about the
ideas of John Locke and realized that maybe they could get rid of the king
and form a new, better form of government.

Thomas Paine wrote about these new ideas in a way that everyone could
understand in his pamphlet, called ______________________________. Soon,
everyone was talking about rebelling against the king. The Revolution had
begun!

In 1776, Thomas Jefferson wrote the ___________________________________

to explain why the American colonists wanted to break free from the British
empire. He stated that all men have “certain unalienable rights”: life,
liberty, and ____________________________________. He said that people have a
right and a duty to ____________ a government that does not protect these
rights.

While the colonists were fighting for their independence, they formed their
own new government, called the __________________________________________.
This was our first national government.

The colonists absolutely did NOT want another strong leader (like a king) and
they did NOT want a powerful central government that could control them
with taxes and other laws. So their first government, the Articles of
Confederation was a very ____________ central government. There was not
an executive branch, only a _________________________. The government could
NOT _________ or regulate trade. The Americans were determined to have a
whole new kind of government. No more king! No more taxes! No more big,
strong, central government!

Of course, if the central government is very weak, then things are not going
to be very organized. This first government, the Articles of Confederation,
did not work out well. American leaders soon realized that they needed to
create something better. They met in Philadelphia to write the United States
__________________________, which remains the supreme law of our land.
 Part 2: Which should be more powerful?
The National Government or the State
Governments?

Articles of Confederation – No Central Power

Our first government, written during the Revolution, called the Articles of
Confederation said that the central government should be __________ . To
make sure that the states would be equally powerful, each state had one
_________ in Congress, regardless of size.

Constitution – Nation and States Share Power, National

Power is Limited
The Constitution was written so that the national government and the state
governments could share the power equally. Some powers were given to the
national government and other powers were given to the states. This is
called our ___________________ system.

The national government is divided into _______ branches. This idea came
from
James Madison’s ___________________ Plan.

The national government is divided into branches so that all of the power is
not held by one person or group. Each branch has some control over the
other branches. This is called our system of
____________________________________.

The Constitution also guarantees our individual rights, such as the freedom
of speech and the freedom of religion. These rights are listed in the
___________________________, written by _______________________________.
Draw a picture or diagram to represent Draw a picture or diagram to
represent
the Articles of Confederation. the Constitution.

Political Parties – Americans continued to disagree.

While _______________________ was president, two political parties were
formed. These two groups disagreed about how strong the national
government should be.
The ___________________________________, led by Thomas Jefferson, thought
that the states should be the most powerful.
The ____________________________________, led by Alexander Hamilton,
thought that the national government should be the most powerful.

Civil War – What happened when the problem was not

solved.
Eventually, Americans fought another war over this problem of government
power.
The southern states did not want to follow some national laws. They wanted
the states to have more power than the national government.
When _________________________ was elected, the southern states feared that
there would be a national law to abolish slavery. They refused to accept this
possibility and ___________________ from the Union.
 Part 3: Our National Government: The
Constitution

A. ___________________ of Powers: Our government is divided into three

branches.
Legislative Branch (also known as Congress)
Congress is divided into two houses:
The Senate (each state sends ________ representatives)
The House of Representatives (representation is based on
_____________________)
The legislative branch ___________________ the laws.
Executive Branch
The head of the executive branch is the ____________________.
The executive branch ____________________ the laws.
Judicial Branch
The head of the judicial branch is the _____________________________.
The judicial branch interprets the laws. This means that they decide if
laws are ____________________________.

B. Checks and Balances keep any one branch from gaining too much
power.
For example, the executive branch can check the legislative branch
because the president could _________ a law made by Congress.

C. Changing the Constitution

Our Constitution can be changed by adding amendments.
The first ten amendments are called the _________________________________.
These amendments provide a written guarantee of our individual rights, such
as our freedom of ________________ and _________________.
Three more important amendments were added following the Civil War.
13th – _____________________________________
14th -- _____________________________________
15th -- _____________________________________
 Part 4: First Five Presidents

1st President: _______________________________________

____________________________ was added to the Constitution.
A new capital was chosen: ___________________________________
An African American surveyor named _________________________________
helped complete the design for the city.

2nd President: __________________________________________

Two __________________ parties were formed.

3rd President: __________________________________________

Bought __________________________ from France.
Sent _____________________________________ to explore this new land.

4th President: _______James Madison________________________

The War of ____________ caused European nations to gain ____________
for the U.S.

5th President: ____________________________________________

He warned European nations not to interfere in the Western
Hemisphere. This is called the _________________________________. What
is the Western Hemisphere? ______________________________________