CONSTITUTION WORKSHEET

The following link will take you to an interactive Constitution in which almost every line of
the Constitution is analyzed and defined.
https://constitutioncenter.org/interactive-constitution

ARTICLE ONE
1. How many members are there to be in the House?
435 people

2. What is the term of office for a representative?

2 years

3. How do we determine the number of representatives to which each State is entitled?

Due to population in a state

4. Who may vote for members of the House?

People who live in the congressional district

5. What qualifications must a person meet to be a Representative?

25 years of age, citizen of the US for 7 years min, must live in state they represent

6. What is the title of the presiding officer of the House?

Speaker of the House

7. What is the impeachment power of the House? Define impeachment.

The house has the power to impeach government officials. Impeachment is the process of
charging a government official with wrongdoing.

8. How many members are there in the Senate?

100

9. What is the term of office of a senator?

6 years

10. How do we determine the number of Senators from each state?

2 senators per state
11. How were Senators chosen before 1913? How are they chosen today? (Hint, look ahead
to Amendment XVII)
Was divided into three classes that were rotated throughout the 6 years. Now is direct
election by popular vote.

12. What are the qualifications for the office of Senator?

age of 30, a citizen of the US for 9 years, and is an inhabitant of the state they represent.

13. Who is the presiding officer of the Senate? Can he vote?

Vice President. Only in tie breaker

14. What role does the Senate play in impeachment cases? How may a convicted official be
punished?
They hold the trial. They are removed from office and can’t run again

15. Who controls the time, place, and manner of holding election for members of Congress?
States legislation

16. What is the process by which a bill becomes a law?

bill gets passed through the House of Representatives and the Senate before making its way
to the President. If the president signs off on it, then it becomes a law.

17. May a bill become a law without the President’s signature? What is a “pocket veto”?
Yes. Pocket veto is when a president doesn’t sign off on a law and congress isn’t in session
by the time the ten day period is over.

18. What is meant by “delegated powers”? “Reserved powers”?

Power given to the federal government. Reserved for the states

19. What power does Congress have to raise money?

Taxation

20. What is the Commerce Clause?

Congress has power to regulate commerce between states,

21. What is naturalization?

Non-citizen becoming a citizen

22. How doe Congress protect the rights of authors and inventors? Why?
 Congress offers copyrights and patents to authors and investors so they can profit of their
work.

23. What military powers does Congress have?

Raise army and navy declare war.

24. What does “necessary and proper” mean? Why is Article I, Section 8, Clause 18 called
the “elastic clause”?
Congress can make laws that are important to the function of the federal government.
Congress gains power beyond what is given for things that were unforeseen things coming.

25. What effect does the elastic clause have on the power of Congress?
It has extra power, so congress is very powerful.

26. What is an “Ex Post Facto” law?

Allow for crimes that were legal when they were committed, they can change what is
considered evidence, and they can increase punishments for crimes.

27. What are imports and exports? What powers are denied the States in these matters?
Imports and exports are goods coming in and out of the US. States can’t put taxes on imports
without congress.

28. What war powers are denied to the States?

Can’t declare war

ARTICLE TWO
1. Describe the method used in electing the President and Vice President. How was this
process changed by Amendment #12?
2 highest candidates were chosen as vice president and president. Now the person
running for president chooses their own candidate for vice

2. What are their terms of office?

4 years a term

3. How many terms may a President serve? (Both prior to and then after Amendment #22)
2 terms
10 years – vice president
 4. What are the qualifications for the Presidency?
Min 35 years of age, citizen of US, lived in US for 14 years

5. State the powers given to the President in the following areas:

a. Military: direct military strategies

b. Judicial: can pardon and elect judges

c. Legislative: veto power

d. Executive: diplomat to other countries

6. How big of a role does the President play in Foreign affairs? What check does the
President have on this power?
He signs treaties, but must have consent of Senate.

7. How does the President make appointments to office?

He selects his officials and then needs consent of 2/3 of the senate

8. How might a President be removed from office?

Impeachment or treason or death

9. What are the four special duties of the President as found in Article 2, Section 2?
the Chief Executive, Commander in Chief, Chief Diplomat, and Ceremonial head of state

10. Define the following:

Electoral college: the President and Vice president are decided by electors.
Reprieve: delay in a criminal sentencing
Pardon: banishment of a criminal sentencing
Amnesty: pardon on people for crimes they committed in the past.

ARTICLE III
1. What is the only court established under this Article? What jurisdiction was given to the
federal courts?
The Supreme Court.

2. Who has the power to establish the lower federal courts? (See Article I)

Congress

3. In what cases does the Supreme Court have original jurisdiction? Appellate jurisdiction?
What do those terms mean?
Original jurisdiction is when a court is the first one to have a case and the Supreme Court has
it when it is the only court to hear a case. Appellate jurisdiction is when they have a case that
has been seen by previous lower courts.
4. Who determines the size of the Supreme Court? How big is it now?
Congress. Supreme Court currently has 9 people in it

5. What is the term of office for a Federal Judge?

serve their whole lives

6. What qualifications are there to be a Federal Judge?

There are none specified in the constitution

7. What is the only “crime” defined in this Article? How is it defined? How is it punished?
Treason is the betrayal of the US in favor of an enemy. You serve a minimum of 5 years in
jail, $10,000 fine, and you can no longer hold any public office of power.

ARTICLE IV
1. What is meant by the term “full faith and credit”?
Requires states to respect the rules and records of other states.

2. What does the “Privileges and Immunities” clause provide?

Equality for all citizens.

3. What is extradition?
No state can harbor a criminal from a crime committed in another state. You can’t run from
the law

4. What guarantee does this article make to the States?

Each state has a Republican Form of Government.

5. Who admits new states and under what restrictions?

New states can be made by Congress, not by another state or a partnership of states

ARTICLE V
1. Describe the procedure of amending the Constitution.
Two-thirds of Congress must agree to the amendment and then three-fourths of state
legislatures/conventions must approve the amendment.

2. How can an amendment to the Constitution be repealed?

Basically another amendment.
 ARTICLE VI
1. What constitutes the “Supreme Law of the Land”? Can you list the ranking of all laws
and Constitutions in the U.S. in the order of their importance?
The Constitution is the supreme law of the land and the most important constitution is the US
Constitution, the federal constitution, and the state constitution

2. What oath is required by Clause #3?

An oath of alignment with the Constitution is required.

3. What type of test for public office holders is prohibited by Clause #3? Why?
religion test for public office is prohibited because we said religion was free.

ARTICLE VII
1. What method of ratification was decided upon? Why?
through state conventions, meaning that a majority of the states did not need to ratify for the
Constitution to become law; only nine were required

2. What groups may have been opposed to ratification and why? What groups may have
been in favor of ratification and why?
groups opposed to ratification, known as Anti-Federalists they thought the new
Constitution would give too much power to the federal government. Federalists believed
a stronger national government was necessary for stability