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Case 4: Votes That Checked Power worksheet preview

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Case 4: Votes That Checked Power

Grade 8 civics: museum labels and real Senate and House vote counts show federalism, separation of powers and checks and balances at work, 1787–1868.

Grade 8Social StudiesInteractive · Printable

Aligned toCIV.8.1

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What’s included

  • Single worksheet
  • Auto-graded online
  • 1 C3 Framework standard
  • Printable answer key
  • 10 questions
  • Classroom-ready

Details

Format
Interactive · Printable
Grade
Grade 8
Subject
Social Studies
Question types
Fill in the blank, Multiple choice, Sorting, Short answer

About this worksheet

What students practice

  • Students tell federalism apart from checks among the three branches using historical examples.
  • Students use real vote counts to explain why some checks need a two-thirds vote.
  • Students judge whether a historical event shows checks and balances working.

How to use

Read the exhibit labels as a gallery walk, with each group taking one artifact, then have students use the vote cards to answer the questions on their own.

Curriculum

C3 Framework standard covered

CIV.8.1

Explain federalism, separation of powers and checks and balances, using examples of how the three branches limit each other.

Preview

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Case 4: Votes That Checked Power

Study a museum case of artifacts and vote cards from 1787 to 1868.

The museum case

Read the labels in Case 4 of the made-up Old Statehouse Civics Museum. Then answer the questions.

Case 4: Votes That Checked Power

1Welcome. The framers of the Constitution feared a national government as weak as the one under the Articles of Confederation, but they also feared putting too much power in one place. Their plan had two parts. Federalism divides power between the national government and the states. Separation of powers divides national power among three branches, and checks and balances let each branch limit the others. The objects in this case show these ideas at work.

2Artifact A: A printed copy of the Constitution, 1787. Its first three articles each open with a different grant of power: "All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States"; "The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America"; and "The judicial Power of the United States, shall be vested in one supreme Court" and in lower courts that Congress creates.

3Artifact B: The Tenth Amendment, ratified in 1791: "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."

4Artifact C: A tally sheet from the Senate's vote on the Jay Treaty with Great Britain, 1795. The President makes treaties, but a treaty takes effect only if two-thirds of the senators present approve it.

5Artifact D: A Senate journal page, December 1795. President George Washington chose John Rutledge to be Chief Justice. Rutledge began serving while the Senate was out of session, but when the senators returned, they voted on his nomination, and he soon left the Court.

6Artifact E: A newspaper report on McCulloch v. Maryland, 1819. Maryland had placed a tax on a branch of the Bank of the United States, a bank created by Congress. Chief Justice John Marshall wrote the Supreme Court's decision. Congress had the power to create the bank, the Court ruled, and a state could not tax it. "The power to tax involves the power to destroy," Marshall wrote.

7Artifact F: A printed copy of the Civil Rights Act of 1866, which declared that most people born in the United States, including people who had been enslaved, were citizens with equal rights under the law. President Andrew Johnson vetoed the bill. Each house of Congress then voted on it again.

8Artifact G: A ticket to the Senate trial of President Johnson, 1868. The House of Representatives had impeached Johnson, or formally charged him. Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase presided over the trial in the Senate. Removing a President from office takes a guilty vote from two-thirds of the senators present.

1.
Sort each example. Does it mainly show federalism, or one branch checking another?
The Tenth AmendmentThe Senate's vote on the Jay TreatyThe ruling that Maryland could not tax the national bankThe Senate's vote on RutledgeCongress voting again on a vetoed billA state setting the rules for its own public schools
Federalism (nation and states)Checks among the branches
2.
Which conclusion do the three quotations in Artifact A best support?
  • A. The lower courts were created by the President.
  • B. The President holds the lawmaking and judging powers.
  • C. Each kind of national power goes to a different branch.
  • D. Congress may judge cases when the courts are busy.
3.
Which statement best restates the Tenth Amendment in Artifact B?
  • A. The national government keeps any power the states did not write down.
  • B. Powers the Constitution does not give or deny remain with the states or the people.
  • C. Unlisted powers belong to the President until Congress acts.
  • D. A state may set aside a national law it judges to be unfair.
4.
Imagine that in the 1820s a state charged a tax on every letter the U.S. Post Office carried inside its borders. Based on Artifact E, what would the Supreme Court most likely decide?
  • A. The tax is struck down, because a state may not tax the national government's work.
  • B. The tax stands, because post offices are run by the states.
  • C. The tax stands, because the Tenth Amendment lets states tax anything.
  • D. The case is dropped, because courts do not settle disputes between states and the nation.

The vote cards

Use the vote cards and the labels.

Vote Cards from Case 4
Artifact and yearVoteYes or guiltyNo or not guiltyNeeded to pass
C, 1795Senate: approve the Jay Treaty2010Two-thirds
D, 1795Senate: approve Rutledge1014Majority
F, 1866Senate: pass the bill over the veto3315Two-thirds
F, 1866House: pass the bill over the veto12241Two-thirds
G, 1868Senate: convict Johnson3519Two-thirds
5.
Suppose one senator who voted yes on the Jay Treaty had voted no instead. What would have happened?
  • A. The treaty would still pass, since most senators voted yes.
  • B. The treaty would pass if the President signed it a second time.
  • C. The treaty would fail, since it would fall short of two-thirds.
  • D. The treaty would go to the House for a final vote.
6.
Which vote cards show Congress succeeding in blocking or overruling a choice made by the President? Choose all that apply.
  • A. Senate: pass the bill over the veto
  • B. House: pass the bill over the veto
  • C. Senate: convict Johnson
  • D. Senate: approve the Jay Treaty
  • E. Senate: approve Rutledge
7.
Use the card for Artifact G. Two-thirds of the senators present had to vote guilty.

Johnson needed   more guilty vote(s) to be removed from office.

8.
In Artifact D, which branch limited which?
  • A. The legislative branch limited the President's choice of a judge.
  • B. The judicial branch limited the Senate's choice of a President.
  • C. The executive branch limited the Senate's power to make treaties.
  • D. The states limited the national government's choice of a judge.
9.
Artifact G says the Chief Justice presided over the President's trial. What does that detail show?
  • A. The Supreme Court decided whether Johnson was guilty.
  • B. The House holds the trial and votes on guilt.
  • C. The Chief Justice may remove a President without Congress.
  • D. Members of more than one branch take part in removing a President.
10.
Johnson was impeached by the House but not removed by the Senate. Did the events of 1868 show that checks and balances worked? Make a claim, use at least two details from the labels or the vote cards as evidence, and explain your reasoning.

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