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8th grade · Social Studies · Unit 6 of 10

The Constitution & the Courts

From the Articles to landmark Supreme Court cases

What your child practices

The strengths and weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation, the compromises of 1787, how the Constitution answered colonial grievances, the principles of the Constitution, Federalists and Anti-Federalists, states' rights and nullification, and the landmark cases Marbury v. Madison, McCulloch v. Maryland, Gibbons v. Ogden and Dred Scott v. Sandford.

Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) teks student expectation: 8.4(D); 8.15(A); 8.15(B); 8.15(C); 8.15(D); 8.16(A); 8.17(A); 8.17(B); 8.18(A); 8.18(B); 8.18(C) · the Articles of Confederation, the Constitutional Convention, constitutional principles, states' rights and landmark Supreme Court cases

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. The Articles of Confederation made a weak national government, so the Constitution replaced them in 1787.
  2. The Great Compromise created a House based on population and a Senate with equal votes; the Bill of Rights protects individual rights.
  3. Landmark cases: Marbury v. Madison (judicial review) and the Dred Scott decision (1857), which said enslaved people were not citizens.

Example: What kind of Congress did the Great Compromise create? Big states wanted seats by population. Small states wanted equal votes. The compromise gave one house of each kind. Answer: a House based on population and a Senate with equal votes

The Constitution & the Courts in Texas

In the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS), this is unit 6 of 10 in 8th grade Social Studies, after Colonies to Independence and before A New Nation.

Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.

Source: Texas Education Agency (TEA)

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    Popular sovereignty means the power of government comes from…

    • the army
    • the courts
    • the people
    • the king

  2. Question 2

    Gibbons v. Ogden (1824) ruled that…

    • New York could block other states
    • Congress controls trade between states
    • steamboats were illegal
    • states control all river trade

  3. Question 3

    McCulloch v. Maryland (1819) ruled that…

    • the bank was unconstitutional
    • Congress could create a national bank and states could not tax it
    • Maryland could leave the Union
    • states could print money

  4. Question 4

    A strength of the Articles was the Northwest Ordinance, which set out…

    • a national bank
    • how new territories could become states
    • a federal court system
    • the Electoral College

  5. Question 5

    Federalism divides power between…

    • the cities and the counties only
    • the national government and the states
    • the courts and the army
    • the president and the king

  6. Question 6

    Why is judicial review an example of checks and balances?

    • courts can check laws passed by Congress
    • Congress can ignore the courts
    • states can overturn the Constitution
    • the president can fire judges

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