1.7 Interactive Knowledge Check: Constitutional Conversations and Civil Dialogue

1. What is the U.S Constitution?

2. The Constitution is not a particularly long document (the Preamble, seven articles, and 27 amendments). The Founding generation wrote it that way so _____________

3. The Constitution expresses one of its core principles, popular sovereignty, in its Preamble, beginning with these words __________

4. The framers set out the basic structure of government—in other words, its three different branches—in Articles I through III. In order, match the three different branches (1. Legislative, 2. Executive, 3. Judicial) with its constitutional responsibility

5. Article V outlines a formal process that has allowed later generations to revise the Constitution without the need to resort to violence or revolution. This process is called __________

6. Some of our most cherished liberties, such as free speech, free press, freedom of religion, and the right to a jury trial, were not listed in the original Constitution. Rather, they were added in 1791 with the adoption of the ___________

7. After the Civil War, the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments abolished slavery, wrote the Declaration of Independence’s promise of freedom and equality into the Constitution, and banned racial discrimination in voting. This period, which some historians call America's "Second Founding" is also known as _________

8. The key to thinking like a constitutional lawyer is to separate your political views (what should be done) from your constitutional views (what can be done). Which of these would be an example of a constitutional question?

9. Phillip Bobbitt’s landmark book Constitutional Fate identifies seven different forms of argument used by constitutional lawyers. When having a civil dialogue, it is important to be aware of these different arguments because _________

10. Someone who is using a Textual Interpretation would most likely try to _________.

11. If someone is interpreting a constitutional provision by examining records from the 1787 Convention, discussions in state ratifying conventions, and late 18th-century newspapers and pamphlets, they are most likely using which method of interpretation?

12. When having a constitutional conversation with someone, you should try to _________

13. Which of these should you do when having a constitutional conversation?

14. Which of the following do you think is true about the nature of discussions between justices of the Supreme Court?

15. Justice Stephen Breyer talked about how the Supreme Court settles arguments and how their method can work for you, too. What was Justice Breyer’s advice?

16. A tip for having a conversation with a group of people: “Don’t speak twice until everyone has spoken once.” This is a great rule for ___________ because everyone feels that they’ve been treated fairly

17. The only way that the government can be responsive to the will of “We the People” is if the people are free to express __________

18. In the Supreme Court case of Whitney v. California, the importance of civil dialogue was emphasized by this justice.

19. According to Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, who was the Constitution made for?

20. The people who should be having conversations about our Constitution are __________