Purdue Civic Literacy Test /
Questions & Expertly Verified
Answers, .
Quiz____?
Private Life -
Answer✓✓
Relates to a citizen's right to privacy and the pursuit of private and
personal interests
Quiz____?
Civic Life -
Answer✓✓
The public life of the citizen concerned with the affairs of the community
and nation
-example: Campaigning for a school board member
Quiz____?
Limited Government -
Answer✓✓
The government has only the powers granted to it in the Constitution, and
it can only conduct actions permitted by the Constitution. In other words,
there are established and respected restraints on government power
Quiz____?
Rule of Law -
Page 1 of 16
, Answer✓✓
An essential component of limited government.
-The central notion of a rule of law is that society is governed according to
widely known and accepted rules followed not only by the governed but
also by those in authority
-"no one is above the law"
Quiz____?
Checks and Balances -
Answer✓✓
The Constitutionally granted power for one branch of government to block
action by an equal branch of government. The Constitution specifies
instances in which one of the three branches can stop action by another.
Historical precedents have established others
Quiz____?
Separation of Powers -
Answer✓✓
The Constitution keeps the three branches of government (executive,
legislative, and judicial) separate. The powers and responsibilities of each
is described in a separate Article. Separation makes each Branch the
equal of the others
Quiz____?
14th Amendment (1868) -
Answer✓✓
Grants citizenship to "all persons born or naturalized in the US"; it forbids
any state to deny any person "life, liberty or property, without due process
of law" or to "deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal
protection of its laws."
Page 2 of 16
, -Most important law ever passed besides original Constitution and Bill of
Rights.
-It has been the vehicle for the expansion of civil rights, women's rights,
gay rights among other movements. It also allowed for the "incorporation
doctrine" which means the application of the national Bill of Rights to the
states.
Quiz____?
15th Amendment (1870) -
Answer✓✓
Granted African American men the right to vote by declaring that the
"right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or
abridged by the United States or by any state on account of race, color, or
previous condition of servitude."
-Although ratified on February 3, 1870, the promise of the 15th
Amendment would not be fully realized for almost a century.
-Through the use of poll taxes, literacy tests and other means, Southern
states were able to effectively disenfranchise African Americans. It would
take the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 before the majority of
African Americans in the South were registered to vote
Quiz____?
19th Amendment (1920) -
Answer✓✓
-Passed by Congress June 4, 1919, and ratified on August 18, 1920, the
19th amendment guarantees all American women the right to vote.
-Achieving this milestone required a lengthy and difficult struggle; victory
took decades of agitation and protest.
-Beginning in the mid-19th century, several generations of woman
suffrage supporters lectured, wrote, marched, lobbied, and practiced civil
disobedience to achieve what many Americans considered a radical
change of the Constitution
Page 3 of 16
Questions & Expertly Verified
Answers, .
Quiz____?
Private Life -
Answer✓✓
Relates to a citizen's right to privacy and the pursuit of private and
personal interests
Quiz____?
Civic Life -
Answer✓✓
The public life of the citizen concerned with the affairs of the community
and nation
-example: Campaigning for a school board member
Quiz____?
Limited Government -
Answer✓✓
The government has only the powers granted to it in the Constitution, and
it can only conduct actions permitted by the Constitution. In other words,
there are established and respected restraints on government power
Quiz____?
Rule of Law -
Page 1 of 16
, Answer✓✓
An essential component of limited government.
-The central notion of a rule of law is that society is governed according to
widely known and accepted rules followed not only by the governed but
also by those in authority
-"no one is above the law"
Quiz____?
Checks and Balances -
Answer✓✓
The Constitutionally granted power for one branch of government to block
action by an equal branch of government. The Constitution specifies
instances in which one of the three branches can stop action by another.
Historical precedents have established others
Quiz____?
Separation of Powers -
Answer✓✓
The Constitution keeps the three branches of government (executive,
legislative, and judicial) separate. The powers and responsibilities of each
is described in a separate Article. Separation makes each Branch the
equal of the others
Quiz____?
14th Amendment (1868) -
Answer✓✓
Grants citizenship to "all persons born or naturalized in the US"; it forbids
any state to deny any person "life, liberty or property, without due process
of law" or to "deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal
protection of its laws."
Page 2 of 16
, -Most important law ever passed besides original Constitution and Bill of
Rights.
-It has been the vehicle for the expansion of civil rights, women's rights,
gay rights among other movements. It also allowed for the "incorporation
doctrine" which means the application of the national Bill of Rights to the
states.
Quiz____?
15th Amendment (1870) -
Answer✓✓
Granted African American men the right to vote by declaring that the
"right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or
abridged by the United States or by any state on account of race, color, or
previous condition of servitude."
-Although ratified on February 3, 1870, the promise of the 15th
Amendment would not be fully realized for almost a century.
-Through the use of poll taxes, literacy tests and other means, Southern
states were able to effectively disenfranchise African Americans. It would
take the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 before the majority of
African Americans in the South were registered to vote
Quiz____?
19th Amendment (1920) -
Answer✓✓
-Passed by Congress June 4, 1919, and ratified on August 18, 1920, the
19th amendment guarantees all American women the right to vote.
-Achieving this milestone required a lengthy and difficult struggle; victory
took decades of agitation and protest.
-Beginning in the mid-19th century, several generations of woman
suffrage supporters lectured, wrote, marched, lobbied, and practiced civil
disobedience to achieve what many Americans considered a radical
change of the Constitution
Page 3 of 16
