U.S. CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY

                            Sample Examination Questions

Multiple Choice:

(  1) Which of the following indicates the "the power and right of a courtto adjudicate a given case"?

 A. jurisdiction
 B. purview
 C. mandate
 D. judicial review
 E. coordinate review
 

(  2) Which of the following indicates the jurisdiction prosecuting a violationof its law forbidding "any person to rake on any oyster bed in that state,or to gather any oysters or shells on any banks or beds" Corfield v. Coryell,6 F.Cas. 546 (C.C.E.D.Pa. 1823) (No. 3230)?
 A. Connecticut
 B.  New York
 C. New Jersey
 D. Delaware
 E. Massachusetts

(  3) Which of the following indicates the case in which the primary issuewas whether "since the adoption of the fourteenth amendment, a woman whois a citizen of the United States and of the State . . . is a voter inthat State, notwithstanding the provision of the constitution and lawsof the State, which confine the right of suffrage to men alone?"
 A. Bradwell v. Illinois
 B. Corfield v. Coryell
 C. Gitlow v. New York
 D. Minor v. Happersett
 E. United States v. Anthony

(  4) Which of the following indicates the case in which an issue at barwas whether "the President of the United States the right to suspend thewrit of habeas corpus himself, at his discretion?"
 A. Luther v. Borden
 B. Prigg v. Pennsylvania
 C. The Prize Cases
 D. Ex parte McCardle
 E. Ex parte Merryman

(  5) Which of the following indicates a case in which U.S. Supreme CourtAssociate Justice Joseph Story wrote, "I do not think it necessary, toconsider the more broad question, whether the United States, as a sovereignpower, have entirely adopted the common law"?
 A. United States v. Coolidge
 B. Martin v. Hunter's Lessee
 C. Gibbons v. Ogden
 D. Prigg v. Pennsylvania
 E. Swift v. Tyson

(  6) Which of the following indicates a cases in which the issue at barwas "May the circuit court of the United States have jurisdiction to punishoffences against the United States, which have not been previously defined,and a specific punishment affixed, by some statute of the United States?"
 A. United States v. Coolidge
 B. Martin v. Hunter's Lessee
 C. Gibbons v. Ogden
 D. Prigg v. Pennsylvania
 E. Swift v. Tyson

(  7)    Which of the following indicates the state that by convention on 20 December 1860 announced its secession from the United States?

        A.   Mississippi
        B.   North Carolina
        C.   South Carolina
        D.   Virginia
        E.   Texas

(  8)    Which of the following indicates the number of states in total that announced secession from the United States of America and joined the Confederate States of America?

        A.   4
        B.   6
        C.   9
        D.   11
        E.   15

(  9)    Which of the following indicates the doctrine regarding federal policy and power on the issue of slavery in U.S. territories that held federal territories were shared property of the states?

        A.   Common-Property Doctrine
        B.   Free Soil Doctrine
        C.   Popular Sovereignty Doctrine
        D.   Property-Rights Doctrine
        E.   State Sovereignty Doctrine

( 10)    Which of the following was NOT one of the so-called Border States during the U.S. Civil War?

        A.   Delaware
        B.   Kentucky
        C.   Maryland
        D.   Missouri
        E.   West Virginia

( 11)    Which of the following indicates the location in the U.S. Constitution of the provision defining treason?

        A.   Article I
        B.   Article II
        C.   Article III
        D.   Article IV
        E.   Article VI


( 12)    Which of the following indicates a state admitted to the Union as part of the so-called Compromise of 1820?

        A.   Alabama
        B.   Maine
        C.   Mississippi
        D.   West Virginia
        E.   Texas

( 13)    Which of the following indicates the doctrine regarding federal policy and power on the issue of slavery in U.S. territories that held the Amendment 5 guarantee against federal deprivation of property without due process prohibited slavery in the territories as slavery would deprive slaves of property   their property in themselves   and also prohibited Congress from recognizing the institution there?

        A.   Common-Property Doctrine
        B.   Free Soil Doctrine
        C.   Popular Sovereignty Doctrine
        D.   Property-Rights Doctrine
        E.   State Sovereignty Doctrine

( 14)    Which of the following indicates the location in the U.S. Constitution of the initial amendment to restrict the rights of private persons in the United States?

        A.   Amendment 13
        B.   Amendment 12
        C.   Amendment 10
        D.   Amendment 14
        E.   Amendment 15

( 15)    Which of the following indicates the U.S. Supreme Court decision holding invalid a New York bankruptcy statute relieving insolvent debtors from debts contracted before the law became effective?

        A.   United States v. Worral
        B.   Sturges v. Crowinshield
        C.   Dartmouth College v. Woodward
        D.   Ogden v. Saunders
        E.   Swift v. Tyson


( 16)    Which of the following indicates the location in the U.S. Constitution of ground for the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Prigg v. Pennsylvania?

        A.   U.S. Const., art. 1, sec. 2
        B.   U.S. Const., art. 1, sec. 8
        C.   U.S. Const., art. 3, sec. 2
        D.   U.S. Const., art. 4, sec. 2
        E.   U.S. Const., art. 4, sec. 4


( 17)    Which of the following indicates the U.S. Supreme Court decision holding the Contract Clause reached political agreements between states, as that of 1792 when Kentucky separated from Virginia?

        A.   United States v. Hoxie
        B.   Green v. Biddle
        C.   Terrett v. Taylor
        D.   M'Culloch v. Maryland
        E.   Osborn v. Bank of the United States

( 18)    Which of the following indicates the location in the U.S. Constitution of ground for Congress's abolishing the slave trade in the District of Columbia?

        A.   U.S. Const., art. 4, sec. 4
        B.   U.S. Const., art. 1, sec. 2
        C.   U.S. Const., art. 1, sec. 8
        D.   U.S. Const., art. 3, sec. 2
        E.   U.S. Const., art. 4, sec. 2

( 19)    Which of the following indicates the U.S. Supreme Court decision overruling the 1825 holding that federal admiralty and maritime jurisdiction extended only in tidal waters, as was the case in English admiralty jurisdiction? This was overruled in 1851.

        A.   The Antelope
        B.   The Thomas Jefferson
        C.   The Amistad
        D.   Propeller Genesee Chief v. Fitzhugh
        E.   United States v. The Williams

( 20)    Which of the following indicates the principle applied in the U.S. Supreme Court's decisions in Cooley v. Pennsylvania Board of Wardens and in The Passenger Cases?

        A.   The Commerce Clause did not apply
        B.   Congress had preempted the field
        C.   Concurrent authority existed
        D.   The States had no authority in the field
        E.   No federal jurisdiction lay in the field

( 21)    Which of the following indicates the U.S. Supreme Court holding a corporation to be a citizen of the state in which it was chartered, regardless of where the members resided?

        A.   Groves v. Slaughter
        B.   Bank of Augusta v. Earle
        C.   Swift v. Tyson
        D.   Bronson v. Kinzie
        E.   Louisville, Cincinnati and Charleston Railroad Company v. Letson


( 22)    Which of the following indicates the victorious candidate in the U.S. Presidential election in 1848?

        A.   Zachary Taylor
        B.   Millard Fillmore
        C.   Franklin Pierce
        D.   Winfield Scott
        E.   James Buchanan

( 23)    Which of the following indicates the 1898 U.S. Supreme Court decision holding valid a state statute making the payment of a poll tax a valid prerequisite to qualify voters, although such practice could effectively exclude blacks from voting?

        A.   Mississippi v. Johnson
        B.   Strauder v. West Virginia
        C.   Neal v. Delaware
        D.   Williams v. Mississippi
        E.   Guinn v. United States

( 24)    Which of the following indicates the 1866 U.S. Supreme Court decision that held military tribunals had no authority to try civilians even during wartime in any jurisdiction in which civil courts were operating?

        A.   Ex parte McCardle
        B.   Ex parte Virginia
        C.   The Slaughterhouse Cases
        D.   Ex parte Milligan
        E.   The Civil Rights Cases

( 25)    Which of the following indicates the Amendment to the U.S. Constitution that provides for the general electorate in a state to directly elect U.S. Senators?

        A.   Amendment 16
        B.   Amendment 17
        C.   Amendment 18
        D.   Amendment 19
        E.   Amendment 20

Essay:

 1. The Court in Martin v. Hunter's Lessee, 14 U.S. (1 Wheat.)304 (1816), remarked on "the importance, and even necessity of uniformityof decisions [348] throughout the whole United States, upon all subjectswith the purview of the constitution." Discuss to what degree the "necessityof uniformity of decisions" asserted itself in U.S. Supreme Court decisionsbefore 1878. Make reference at least to the following cases:

 A. United States v. Coolidge, 25 F.Cas. 619 (C.C.D.Mass. 1813)(No. 14,857); 14 U.S. (1 Wheat.) 415 (1816)
 B. Martin v. Hunter's Lessee, 14 U.S. (1 Wheat.) 304 (1816)
 C. Corfield v. Coryell, 6 F.Cas. 546 (C.C.E.D.Pa. 1823) (No.3230)
 D. Gibbons v. Ogden, 22 U.S. (9 Wheat.) 1 (1824)
 E. Prigg v. Pennsylvania, 41 U.S. (16 Pet.) 539 (1842)
 F. Swift v. Tyson, 41 U.S. (16 Pet.) 1 (1842)

 2. Discuss the understanding of the "privileges and immunitiesof Citizens" that emerges from the following cases:

 A. Corfield v. Coryell, 6 F.Cas. 546 (C.C.E.D.Pa. 1823) (No. 3230)
 B. Barron v. Baltimore, 32 U.S. (7 Pet.) 243 (1833)
 C. Permoli v. New Orleans, 44 U.S. (3 How.) 589 (1845)
 D. Scott v. Sandford, 60 U.S. (19 How.) 393 (1857)
 E. Slaughterhouse, 83 U.S. (16 Wall.) 36 (1873)

3. Explain the historical origins of the eleventh article of amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

4. Explain the historical origins of the twelfth article of amendmentto the U.S. Constitution.

5. Explain the theory of Judicial Review