Worked examples
Two examples
Example 1
The president can veto a bill that Congress has passed.Is this true under the Articles of Confederation or under the Constitution?
- Look for something that existed under only one of the two plans.
- There is a president here. The Articles had no president and no executive at all.
- So this must be the Constitution, which created the presidency in Article II. (To veto is to reject a bill.)
Answer: The Constitution
Example 2
A state with 400,000 people and a state with 60,000 people each cast one vote in Congress.Is this true under the Articles of Confederation or under the Constitution?
- Ask how votes are counted. Here every state counts the same, whatever its size.
- One vote per state was the rule of the Articles (Article V).
- Under the Constitution, states with more people get more seats in the House of Representatives, and every state gets two senators.
Answer: The Articles of Confederation
Where this is taught: Civics, Chapter 2: What the Constitution changed · Civics Diagnostic, Part 2
In your Kaplan book: Unit 3, Chapter 3, Lesson 2: Constitutional Government · Map of the Terrain, topic 14: Founding documents II: Articles of Confederation, the Constitution, the Federalist debate
The drill
Ten questions
How many:
Tap your answer to each one. A few questions ask you to choose words from a drop-down instead, the way the GED test does. Then press Check my answers at the bottom.Circle your answer to each one; where there are brackets, circle the choice that fits. The answer key, with the reasoning, is on the last page.