The Truth is in Here Trivia Quiz

Answer: Not in the Constitution

It is the Declaration of Independence that indicates what the government was instituted for. It comes right after the part that says all men are created equal and they are endowed with by their creator with unalienable rights, including but not limited to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Answer: Twenty-Fourth Amendment

Taxes, specifically poll taxes, started shortly after the Civil War and were one of several ways that racists kept black people from voting. However, there were those who opposed the poll tax and in fact tried multiple times to pass an amendment that would ban poll taxes. Objections for the 24th Amendment came because there were still those who did not want black people to vote. Nonetheless, in 1964, the amendment was passed banning any kind of tax.

Answer: Article II

Article Two says that the president shall from time to time give a State of the Union address. In this speech, the president should give recommendations on what Congress should do, although Congress is by no means required to follow them. The Constitution does not specify when to give the speech (only from time to time); however, a precedent has been established for it be at least once a year.

There is also no mention on the delivery of this speech. George Washington and John Adams delivered them orally. Thomas Jefferson started writing them out and sending them to Congress.

This continued until Woodrow Wilson revised the spoken State of the Union address.

Answer: Article V

Article Five of the Constitution provides two ways to propose amendments. One way was to have it be proposed by two-thirds of the Senate and the House of Representatives. Another way was to have two-thirds of the states call for a state convention. Also included in the article is mention that a convention of the states can only propose amendments to the Constitution, as opposed to rewrite the entire thing.

Answer: Twenty-Third Amendment

Since Washington D.C. is not a state, it originally did not get electors who would cast their vote for president and vice president. Normally, electors are equal to the number of congresspeople a state has. However, for Washington D.C., the 23rd Amendment states that while they do get electoral votes, it should not exceed the number of electoral votes that the least populous state has.

When a state's population grows, it is possible for the number of electors to grow as well, but this is not always the case for Washington D.C.

Answer: Article IV

The process by which states are added to the United States is mentioned in Article Four. It allows states to join the country provided that Congress gave its consent. If a state was to be formed by splitting an existing state into two (like what happened with West Virginia during the Civil War), then it would need the consent of the state legislature in addition to Congress's consent. Likewise, if a new state was to be formed by taking land from multiple existing states, then the state legislatures of each of those states would need to consent. However, Article Four does not indicate the process for leaving or seceding from the country as that was considered treason.

Answer: Tenth Amendment

As stated in the Tenth Amendment, powers not given to the federal government are given to the state governments or to the people. Because there are so many, the exact powers are not explicitly stated. It is more of a case of the federal government's powers being listed and then the Constitution saying that if it's not listed, it goes to the state or the people. Several signers worried about an overreaching government, and it is believed that the Tenth Amendment is a way to limit the government.

Answer: Article VI

Article Six of the Constitution says that it shall be the supreme law of the land (along with any treaties). This means that it is the highest law there is. If there is a conflict between a lower law or constitution and the United States Constitution, then it is the United States Constitution that should be followed.

Answer: Twelfth Amendment

Originally when electors gathered, they merely voted for a president. The person with the most electoral votes, provided it was a majority, became president while the second place winner became vice president. This caused a problem in the 1800 election where 73 electors cast their vote for Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr. The original intent was to have one of the electors who voted for Aaron Burr vote for somebody else, but for unknown reasons, the elector did not follow through. It wasn't until the 36th time that Thomas Jefferson finally received more votes than Aaron Burr and became president.

To prevent something like this from happening again, the 12th Amendment was passed which stated that electors must identify which ballot is for president and which ballot is for vice president.

Answer: Article I

As originally stated in Article One of the Constitution, senators were to be chosen by the state legislature whether it was time for an election or whether the current senator had died or resigned. This was because the Senate's job was giving a voice to the states (whereas the House of Representative's job was giving a voice to the people).

When the 17th Amendment was passed, it was changed so the people elected the senators. Some have argued that this change meant that states were not being represented in Congress like it used to be.