Free US Constitution Trivia
What is the United States Constitution?
A: The United States Constitution is the supreme law of the United States of America.
How many articles did the Constitution, originally have?
A: Seven.
What do the seven articles of the Constitution originally do?
A: They delineate the national frame of government.
Its first three articles entrench what doctrine?
A: The doctrine of the separation of powers, whereby the federal government is divided into three branches.
What are the three branches?
A: The legislative, consisting of the bicameral Congress; the executive, consisting of the President; and the judicial, consisting of the Supreme Court and other federal courts.
Articles Four, Five and Six entrench concepts of what?
A: Federalism, describing the rights and responsibilities of state governments and of the states in relationship to the federal government.
What does Article Seven establish?
A: The procedure subsequently used by the thirteen States to ratify it.
When did the Constitution come into force?
A: In 1789.
How many times has the Constitution been amended?
A: Twenty-seven times.
In general, the first ten amendments, are known collectively as what?
A: The Bill of Rights.
The ten amendments offer specific protections of what?
A: Individual liberty and justice and place restrictions on the powers of government.
The majority of the seventeen later amendments do what?
A: Expand individual civil rights protections.
Amendments to the US Constitution, unlike ones made to many other constitutions throughout the world, are appended where?
A: To the end of the document. All four pages of the original U.S. Constitution are written on parchment.
For over two centuries the Constitution has remained in force because its framers wisely did what?
A: Separated and balanced governmental powers to safeguard the interests of majority rule and minority rights, of liberty and equality, and of the federal and state governments.
From September 5, 1774 to March 1, 1781, the Continental Congress functioned as what?
A: The provisional government of the United States.
The Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union was the first what?
A: Constitution of the United States.
Who drafted it?
A: It was drafted by the Second Continental Congress from mid-1776 through late-1777.
When was ratification by all 13 states completed?
A: By early 1781.
Under the Articles of Confederation, the central government's power was what?
A: Quite limited.
The Confederation Congress could make decisions, but lacked what?
A: Enforcement powers.
Implementation of most decisions, including modifications to the Articles, required unanimous approval of what?
A: All thirteen state legislatures.
The main problem with the new government under the Articles of Confederation was, in the words of George Washington, what was the problem?
A: No money.
The Continental Congress could print money; but, by 1786, the currency was what?
A: Worthless.
Congress could borrow money, but couldn't what?
A: Pay it back.
