Constitution Bowl Questions
5th and 6th Grades
1. Q. As stated in the preamble, what are 5 of the 7 reasons the founding fathers
ordained and established the Constitution?
A. To form a more perfect union, establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility,
provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the
blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity.
2. Q. What is the supreme law of the land, by which judges in every state are
bound?
A. The United States Constitution (or the Constitution).
3. Q. How many articles of the Constitution are there?
A. 7.
4. Q. What are the three branches of government?
A. Legislative (Congress), Executive, Judicial.
Article I
5. Q. What is Article I about?
A. The Congress or the Legislative branch.
6. Q. What are the two legislative bodies that make up Congress?
A. The Senate and the House of Representatives.
7. Q. How long is the term of office for the House of Representatives?
A. 2 years.
8. Q. Why is the term of office of the House of Representatives only 2 years?
A. The Founding Fathers wanted them to answer to the people frequently.
9. Q. Who do the members of the House of Representatives represent?
A. The people of the different states.
10. Q. How many representatives does each state get?
A. It is determined by population. (There are 435 total representatives).
11. Q. How old do you have to be to run for the House of Representatives?
A. 25 years old.
12. Q. Who presides over the House of Representatives?
A. The Speaker of the House.
13. Q. How is the Speaker of the House determined?
A. The members of the House of Representatives vote.
14. Q. Where do all bills dealing with taxes originate?
A. The House of Representatives.
15. Q. How many senators does each state have?
A. 2.
16. Q. What is the total number of senators in the Senate?
A. 100.
17. Q. How many Senators does Washington D.C. have?
A. None, because it is a city not a state.
18. Q. How long is the term of office for the senators?
A. 6 years.
19. Q. Who is the President of the Senate?
A. The Vice President of the United States.
20. Q. When is the only time senators ever function as judges?
A. During a presidential impeachment.
21. Q. If a president is convicted by 2/3 of the members of the senate present at an
impeachment, what is the result?
A. He is removed from office and is prohibited from future service.
22. Q. How long does the president have to veto a bill?
A. 10 days (excluding Sundays).
23. Q. Why can a presidential veto be overridden by congress?
A. As part of the system of checks and balances.
24. Q. Who may declare war against another nation?
A. Congress.
25. Q. Whose responsibility is it to raise and support the Army and the Navy?
A. Congress.
26. Q. If the Legislature cannot meet, who has power to follow through on the United
States’ guarantee to protect each state against invasion?
A. The Executive (or President).
Article II
27. Q. What is Article II about?
A. The Executive branch.
28. Q. How long is the term of office for the President?
A. 4 years.
29. Q. Who elects the President of the United States?
A. Electors who are appointed by each state.
30. Q. Does the president of the United States need to be born in America?
A. Yes.
31. Q. Why does the president of the United States need to be a natural born
citizen?
A. The Founding Fathers felt that someone born here would be more likely to
have the interests of the United States at heart.
32. Q. How old do you have to be to run for President of the United States?
A. 35 years old.
33. Q. Who is the Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States?
A. The President.
34. Q. How many terms can the President of the United States be elected to serve?
A. 2 terms.
Article III
35. Q. What is Article III about?
A. The judicial branch.
36. Q. How long can a judge hold his/her position?
A. For life, depending on good behavior.
37. Q. Do all citizens have a right to trial by jury?
A. Yes, except in cases of impeachment.
38. Q. What is judicial activism?
A. When in deciding a case before them, a judge or court makes new law.
Article IV
39. Q. What is Article IV about? (Must know both.)
A. States powers and cooperation between states. (States cooperate when
sharing public records such as birth and death certificates and court records and
when extraditing criminals.)
B. Each state must provide a republic form of government (no kings, etc.) and
the Federal Government will protect each state against invasion.
40. Q New states may join the United States with approval from the Congress,
according to two rules. Name both of them.
A. 1) No state can be created inside another state which already exists; AND 2)
Two states cannot merge together to make one without both federal and state
approval.
Article V
41. Q. What is Article V about?
A. The amendment process.
42. Q. Which Article of the Constitution sets forth the procedure, involving two-thirds
of both Houses or two-thirds of individual states, to create constitutional changes
which are called Amendments?
A. Article V
43. Q. Can the Constitution ever be changed?
A. Yes, it can be amended.
Article VI
44. Q. What is Article VI about?
A. Treaties, debt, and Oaths; also establishes that the U.S. Constitution is the
supreme law of the land.
45. Q. According to Article VI of the Constitution, senators and representatives,
members of state legislatures, and all executive and judicial officers of the
individual states and the United States, are expected to show they are bound to
support the Constitution by doing what?
A. Taking an oath of office.
46. Q. Which Article of the Constitution states that no religious test shall ever be
required as a qualification to serve in public office?
A. Article VI.
Article VII
47. Q. What is Article VII about?
A. Ratification of the constitution by the states.
48. Q. What is the name of the process the federal government uses to approve a
state joining the Union?
A. Ratification
Amendments
49. Q. How many Amendments are there?
A. 27
50. Q. What are the first 10 amendments called?
A. The Bill of Rights.
51. Q. What does the Bill of Rights do?
A. It limits the power of the Federal Government from restricting citizens’ rights.
52. Q. Name one of the three Founding Fathers who refused to sign the Constitution
unless they added the Bill of Rights?
A. Edmund Randolph, George Mason, Elbridge Gerry
53. Q. How many amendments have been added since the Bill of Rights?
A. 17
54. Q. How many Amendments did the Founding Fathers add to the Constitution?
A. 12 (There are ten in the original Bill of Rights, 11 and 12 were added later by
them.)
Amendments 1-10
55. Q. What are the five rights protected by the 1st Amendment?
A. Freedom of religion, speech, press, right to seek redress, and the right to
assemble.
56. Q. What Amendment protects our rights to keep and bear arms?
A. The 2nd Amendment.
57. Q. What does the 3rd Amendment protect us from?
A. Having to quarter soldiers if we do not want to.
58. Q. What does the 4th Amendment address?
A. Unlawful search and seizure of a person, home, papers, and effects
(automobiles, bikes, etc.).
59. Q. What does the 5th Amendment address?
A. In criminal cases, (between the government and a citizen) one does not have
to testify against oneself and one can’t be tried twice for the same crime.
60. Q. What does it mean to “plead the 5th”?
A. It refers to not having to testify against one’s self.
61. Q. What are three of the protections of the 6th Amendment?
A. The right to a speedy trial by jury, to know what one is being accused of, to be
able to question the witnesses, to call witnesses to testify for oneself, and to be
entitled to an attorney.
62. Q. What does the 7th Amendment cover?
A. It grants the right to trial by jury in civil cases (between citizens).
63. Q. What does the 8th Amendment protect?
A. No excessive bail, or fines shall be imposed, and no cruel and unusual
punishments can be given.
64. Q. What does the 9th Amendment cover?
A. There are additional rights of the people not specifically listed in the
Constitution and the Amendments.
65. Q. What does the 10th Amendment state?
A. Rights not specifically given to the federal government are given to the states.
Amendments 11-21
66. Q. What does Amendment 11 address?
A. It defines when citizens may sue in federal court.
67. Q. What does the 12th Amendment do?
A. It explains the process of electing the President and Vice President.
68. Q. What changes did the 13th Amendment address?
A. It abolished slavery.
69. Q. What does the 14th Amendment do? (must know both)
A. It granted citizenship to former slaves.
B. It also states that if an officer of the government takes an oath to uphold the
constitution, and they rebel against it, they can never hold office again unless,
congress rules otherwise.
70. Q. What is an unintended consequence of the 14th Amendment?
A. The wording “No state shall...” has been used to take away states’ rights.
71. Q. Amendment 15 gives the right to vote to whom?
A. All male citizens regardless of color or race.
72. Q. What did the 16th Amendment give the Federal government the power to do
that they had not been able to do before?
A. Tax the people directly.
73. Q. What kind of tax is described in the 16th Amendment and why is it intrusive?
A. Income tax, because it comes directly out of one’s paycheck before they have
a chance to have it.
74. Q. How does the 17th Amendment change the original constitution?
A. It makes it so the people instead of the state legislators elect the senators.
75. Q. Why did our Founding Fathers want the state legislators to elect the senators
and NOT the people?
A. So the Senators would answer to the states for their votes, giving the states a
say in the federal government.
76. Q. In the original Constitution, who did the senators represent?
A. The States.
77. Q. What is a Senators responsibility?
A. To “protect” the states from the Federal government, or to make sure the
Federal government does not step over the powers of the states
78. Q. What does the 18th Amendment do?
A. Prohibits the use of alcohol (Prohibition).
79. Q. What Amendment replaces the 18th Amendment?
A. Amendment 21.
80. Q. Amendment 19 gives whom the right to vote?
A. Women.
81. Q. Which Amendment changes the terms dates of the President and Vice
President and explains what happens in the absence of a President or a Vice
President elect?
A. Amendment 20.
Amendments 22-27
82. Q. What Amendment limits the number of terms a President can run?
A. Amendment 22.
83. Q. Which Amendment makes it so that citizens of Washington DC can vote for
the president and vice president?
A. Amendment 23.
84. Q. Which Amendment makes it illegal for the federal government to restrict
someone from voting because they owe a fine or a fee?
A. Amendment 24.
85. Q. Which Amendment explains what happens if the President or Vice President
dies, resigns, or can’t continue?
A. Amendment 25.
86. Q. Amendment 26 changes the voting to what age?
A. 18.
87. Q. What was the voting age before the 26th Amendment?
A. 21.
88. Q. What does Amendment 27 prevent congress from doing?
A. It prevents them from giving themselves a pay increase during the current
term.
Additional Questions
89. Q. What are Checks and Balances?
A. The three branches of government each have the power to override decisions
made by the other branches. It guarantees that no part of the government
becomes too powerful.
90. Q. Why did the Constitution give congress the power to make coin money but
not print it?
A. They did not trust paper money because it can be printed without having
something of value, like gold and silver, to back it up.
91. Q. When Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence, the original
copy stated, “unalienable rights were life, liberty, and _______”?
A. Property.
92. Q. In the Declaration of Independence, why did the authors change “life, liberty
and property” to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”?
A. Because slaves were referred to as property and the Founding Fathers didn’t
believe anyone had an unalienable right to own another person.
93. Q. What is a representative form of government?
A. A Republic.
94. Q. What form of government is our Constitution?
A. Constitutional Republic, Compound Constitutional Democratic Republic.
95. Q. Why were the Founding Fathers against a Democracy? (must know both)
A. Because a Democracy is “mob rule”, it does not protect the individuals’ rights.
So the only peoples’ rights who are protected are the majority. They wanted to
be sure that every citizen’s rights were protected.
B. Because no democracy has ever lasted longer than 40 years.
96. Q. In the last 200 years, how many forms of government has Italy had?
A. 48.
97. Q. In the last 200 years, how many forms of government has France had?
A. 7.
98. Q. What year was the Constitution ratified?
A. By 1789 all 13 colonies had ratified the Constitution.