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Difficulty: MediumStructure and Core Principles of the U.S. Constitution

"The complete independence of the courts of justice is peculiarly essential in a limited Constitution. By a limited Constitution, I understand one which contains certain specified exceptions to the legislative authority; such, for instance, as that it shall pass no bills of attainder, no ex-post-facto laws, and the like. Limitations of this kind can be preserved in practice no other way than through the medium of the courts of justice, whose duty it must be to declare all acts contrary to the manifest tenor of the Constitution void. Without this, all the reservations of particular rights or privileges would amount to nothing."
— Alexander Hamilton, Federalist No. 78, 1788

Which of the following core principles of the United States Constitution is most directly supported by Hamilton's argument in the excerpt?

  1. A
    The principle that the national legislature should have absolute sovereignty, as established under the Articles of Confederation.
  2. The establishment of checks and balances to prevent the legislature from exceeding its constitutional limits.Answer
  3. C
    The strict constructionist approach to constitutional interpretation advocated by the early Democratic-Republican Party.
  4. D
    The supremacy of state legislatures in resolving conflicts between federal law and individual rights.

Answer

The establishment of checks and balances to prevent the legislature from exceeding its constitutional limits.
The correct answer is correct because Hamilton outlines the necessity of the judiciary to declare legislative acts void if they violate the Constitution, illustrating the principle of checks and balances to enforce constitutional limits on the legislature.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the provided historical excerpt to identify the author's main argument regarding the role of the judiciary.
The author argues that the judiciary is essential to declare legislative acts void if they violate the Constitution.
This establishes the premise that the judiciary acts as a check on legislative power.
2
Relate this function to core constitutional principles.
The ability of one branch of government (the judiciary) to limit the actions of another (the legislature) is a classic example of checks and balances.
This matches the definition of checks and balances in the U.S. government structure.
3
Evaluate the options to identify the correct principle and eliminate distractors.
The correct answer states that the excerpt supports the establishment of checks and balances. The other options refer to state supremacy (Articles of Confederation) or Jeffersonian constructionism, which do not align with the text or Hamilton's Federalist philosophy.
This ensures the selected answer is both contextually accurate and historically correct.

Key Concept

Structure and Core Principles of the U.S. Constitution
Estimated Time:1m 0s
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Topics

Structure and Core Principles of the U.S. Constitution

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