U.S. Constitution — Answer Key
Part A: Multiple Choice
Circle the best answer for each question.
1. The 15th Amendment was ratified in 1870, but many Black citizens still could not vote for decades. What was the main reason?
A) The amendment only applied to northern states
B) States used poll taxes and literacy tests to block voters
C) The President refused to enforce the amendment
D) Black citizens were not considered citizens until 1920
The correct answer is B) States used poll taxes and literacy tests to block voters. The 15th Amendment was ratified in 1870, but many Black citizens still could not vote for decades. What was the main reason — the answer is States used poll taxes and literacy tests to block voters.
2. Which amendment ended the practice of slavery throughout the entire United States?
A) The 12th Amendment
B) The 13th Amendment
C) The 14th Amendment
D) The 15th Amendment
The correct answer is B) The 13th Amendment. Which amendment ended the practice of slavery throughout the entire United States — the answer is The 13th Amendment.
3. The 24th Amendment banned poll taxes in federal elections. Why was this amendment important?
A) It made elections cheaper for the government to run
B) It removed a barrier that had kept poor and minority citizens from voting
C) It allowed citizens under eighteen to vote in national elections
D) It gave women the right to vote for the first time
The correct answer is B) It removed a barrier that had kept poor and minority citizens from voting. The 24th Amendment banned poll taxes in federal elections. Why was this amendment important — the answer is It removed a barrier that had kept poor and minority citizens from voting.
4. The 14th Amendment says no state can deny any person "equal protection of the laws." How has this principle been used?
A) To allow states to make their own trade agreements with other countries
B) To strike down laws that unfairly discriminated against groups of people
C) To give the President the power to remove state governors
D) To prevent Congress from raising taxes on certain states
The correct answer is B) To strike down laws that unfairly discriminated against groups of people. The 14th Amendment says no state can deny any person "equal protection of the laws." How has this principle been used — the answer is To strike down laws that unfairly discriminated against groups of people.
Part B: Fill in the Blank
Write the correct answer on each line.
1. The 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments are called the Reconstruction Amendments because they were passed after the Civil War.
These three amendments are called the Reconstruction Amendments because they were passed during the Reconstruction era right after the Civil War, when the nation was rebuilding and expanding rights for formerly enslaved people.
2. The 19th Amendment was ratified in the year 1920.
The 19th Amendment was ratified in 1920 after decades of activism by the women's suffrage movement, finally guaranteeing women the right to vote nationwide.
3. The 14th Amendment granted citizenship to all persons born in the United States.
The 14th Amendment established birthright citizenship, meaning anyone born on U.S. soil is automatically a citizen regardless of their parents' background or race.
4. The 18th Amendment prohibited making or selling alcohol and was later repealed by the 21st Amendment.
The 18th Amendment banned alcohol in 1919, beginning the era known as Prohibition, but it proved so unpopular and hard to enforce that it became the only amendment ever repealed (by the 21st).
5. The 22nd Amendment limits the President to serving no more than two terms.
The 22nd Amendment was passed after Franklin D. Roosevelt won four elections, and it caps the presidency at two terms (eight years) to prevent any one person from holding power too long.