Florida Civic Literacy Exam
Brown v. Board of Education - Answer 1954 - The Supreme Court overruled Plessy v. Ferguson, declared that racially
... [Show More] segregated facilities are inherently unequal and ordered all public schools desegregated.
McCulloch v. Maryland - Answer 1819 - The Supreme Court ruled that congress had the authority to establish a federal bank that could not be taxed by states. Established that congress could have powers not explicitly described in the constitution.
Gibbons v. Ogden - Answer 1824 - "The Commerce Clause." The Supreme Court ruled that states could not interfere with the federal's regulation of interstate commerce. Decision greatly enlarged Congress' interstate power by defining "commerce" to include virtually all types of economic activity.
Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier - Answer 1988 - A school newspaper was censored by its principal prior to publication, which Hazelwood students claimed to be a violation of their first amendment rights. The Supreme Court held that the principal's actions did not violate the students' free speech rights, establishing that public school curricular student newspapers that have not been established as forums for student expression are subject to a lower level of First Amendment protection.
Gideon v. Wainwright - Answer 1963 - "Right to an attorney." The Supreme Court ruled that the Sixth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution requires U.S. states to provide attorneys to criminal defendants who are unable to afford their own.
Marbury v. Madison - Answer 1803 - The U.S. Supreme Court first declared an act of Congress unconstitutional, thus establishing the doctrine of judicial review. The court's opinion, written by Chief Justice John Marshall, is considered one of the foundations of U.S. constitutional law.
Plessy v. Ferguson - Answer 1896 - U.S. Supreme Court, by a seven-to-one majority (one justice did not participate), advanced the controversial "separate but equal" doctrine for assessing the constitutionality of racial segregation laws.
Schenck v. United States - Answer A 1919 Supreme Court decision upholding the conviction of a socialist who had urged young men to resist the draft during World War I. Justice Holmes declared that government can limit speech if the speech provokes a "clear and present danger" of substantive evils.
US vs Nixon - Answer 1974 - Court unanimously ordered President Richard Nixon to deliver tape recordings and other subpoenaed materials related to the Watergate scandal to a federal district court. Established that Presidential power is not above the law.
District of Colombia v. Heller - Answer 2008 - U.S. Supreme Court held that the Second Amendment guarantees an individual right to possess firearms independent of service in a state militia, and to use firearms for traditionally lawful purposes, including selfdefense within the home. It was the first Supreme Court case to explore the meaning of the Second Amendment since United States v. Miller (1939).
Roe v. Wade - Answer 1973 - Supreme Court decision holding that a state ban on all abortions was unconstitutional. The decision forbade state control over abortions during the first trimester of pregnancy, permitted states to limit abortions to protect the mother's health in the second trimester, and permitted states to protect the fetus during the third trimester.
Northwest Ordinance - Answer Enacted in 1787, it is considered one of the most significant achievements of the Articles of Confederation. It established a system for setting up governments in the western territories so they could eventually join the Union on an equal footing with the original 13 states. Written before the US Constitution.
Alien and Sedition Acts - Answer 1798 - These consist of four laws passed by Congress and signed by President Adams: the Naturalization Act, which increased the waiting period for an immigrant to become a citizen from 5 to 14 years; the Alien Act, which empowered the arrest and deportation dangerous aliens; the Alien Enemy Act, which allowed for the arrest and deportation of citizens of countries at war with the US; and the Sedition Act, which made it illegal to publish defamatory statements about the federal government or its officials.
Judiciary Act of 1789 - Answer 1789 - Act passed by congress that provided for a
Supreme Court with a Chief Justice and five associates, established the office of the Attorney General, and created federal district courts and circuits courts
Land Act of 1800 - Answer 1800 - An act passed to encourage settlement in the Northwest Territory. The Land Act of 1800 reduced the minimum purchasable unit of land from 640 acres to 320 acres at a minimum cost of $2 per acre. Also introduced the option to buy on "credit."
Judicary act of 1801 - Answer 1801 - A law introduced at the end of John Adam's presidency, allowing for new judgeships to be filled by the president. John Adams filled those positions with so-called "midnight judges" before he left office; it was considered a bid to remain in power by the Jefferson administration. This act would play a role in Marbury V. Madison.
Indian Removal Act - Answer 1830 - Act authorized the president to grant Indian tribes unsettled western prairie land in exchange for their desirable territories within state borders (especially in the Southeast), from which the tribes would be removed. "Trail of Tears."
Missouri Compromise - Answer 1820 - "Compromise of 1820," Congress was faced with a request for statehood from Maine. At the time, there were 22 states, half of them free states and half of them slave states. Slave states needed the Senate seats, where each state was equally represented, to prevent the outlaw of slavery. The Senate passed a bill allowing Maine to enter the Union as a free state, and Missouri to be admitted without restrictions on slavery. Slavery was then banned in the rest of the Louisiana Purchase north of latitude 36°30′; the 36th parallel.
Kansas-Nebraska Act - Answer 1854 - Created Nebraska and Kansas as states and gave the people in those territories the right to choose to be a free or slave state through popular sovereignty. Lead to the Compromise of 1850.
Compromise of 1850 - Answer 1850 - A series of measures proposed by the "great compromiser," Sen. Henry Clay of Kentucky, and passed by the U.S. Congress in an effort to prevent dissolution of the Union. California was admitted as free state, disrupting the balance in the Senate. As a compromise, they elected pro-slavery representatives. The boundaries of Texas became fixed; they ceded lands to the southwest and in return had their debt taken up by the federal Government. Utah and New Mexico territories, formed in that ceded land, were left open for "popular sovereignty." The slave trade was abolished in DC, and finally, Congress passed a new and stronger Fugitive Slave Act, taking the matter of returning runaway slaves out of the control of states and making it a federal responsibility.
Homestead Act - Answer 1862 - Provided free land in the West to anyone willing to settle there and develop it. Encouraged westward migration.
Civil Rights Act of 1866 - Answer 1866 - Passed by Congress over the veto of President Andrew Johnson. The act declared that all persons born in the United States were now citizens, without regard to race, color, or previous condition. Defined citizenship and their *equal* protection under law.
Chinese Exclusion Act - Answer 1882 - U.S. federal law that was the first and only major federal legislation to explicitly suspend immigration for a specific nationality. The basic exclusion law prohibited Chinese laborers from entering the country.
Selective Service Act - Answer 1917 - Authorized the United States federal government to raise a national army for service in World War I through conscription; all men from ages 21 to 30 were required to register for the military draft.
Espionage Act - Answer 1917 - Passed by Congress two months after the United States declared war against Germany in World War I, made it a federal crime for any person to interfere with or attempt to undermine the U.S. armed forces during a war, or to in any way assist the war efforts of the nation's enemies. This law imposed sentences of up to twenty years on anyone found guilty of espionage. The law also authorizes the removal of material considered "treasonable or seditious" from the U.S. mail.
Sedition Act - Answer 1918 - Later seen as a gross overreach of power, The Sedition Act curtailed the free speech rights of U.S. citizens during time of war. It was passed as an amendment to Title I of the Espionage Act of 1917, as a proposed solution to antiwar sentiments.
New Deal Legislation - Answer 1933-1939 - The United States was in the throes of the Great Depression, so U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal aimed to provide immediate economic relief by allowing the government to regulate the economy, vastly increasing the federal government's reach.
Neutrality Acts - Answer 4 laws passed in the late 1930s that were designed to keep the US out of international incidents, and to limit involvement in future wars directly after WWI.
Lend-Lease Act - Answer 1941 - A law that allowed the United States to lease arms and supplies to all nations fighting the Axis powers during WWII. Also left to the President (at the time, F.D. Roosevelt's) discretion what they should ask in return.
Great Society Legislation - Answer 1964-1966 - A series of programs implemented by President Lyndon Johnson that he promised would eliminate poverty and inequality in the United States. Included laws that upheld civil rights, public broadcasting, medicare, medicaid, environmental protection, aid to education, and his war on poverty.
Civil Rights Act of 1964 - Answer 1964 - A civil rights and labor law in the United States that outlaws discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, and national origin. It prohibits unequal application of voter registration requirements, racial segregation in schools and public accommodations, and employment discrimination.
Voting Rights Act of 1965 - Answer 1965 - Federal legislation in the United States that prohibits racial discrimination in voting, signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson.
Tonkin Gulf Resolution - Answer 1964 - A resolution put before the U.S. Congress by Pres. Lyndon Johnson, in response to two allegedly unprovoked attacks by North
Vietnamese torpedo boats on the destroyers Maddox and C. Turner Joy of the U.S. Seventh Fleet in the Gulf of Tonkin. Its purpose was to allow the president, as commander in chief, to take "all necessary measures to repel any armed attack against the forces of the United States and to prevent further aggression."
Affordable Care Act - Answer 2010 - U.S. federal statute enacted by the 111th United
States Congress and signed into law by President Barack Obama. Expanded access to insurance, addressed cost reduction and affordability, improved the quality of healthcare, and introduced the Patient's Bill of Rights. [Show Less]