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31 Cards in this Set

  • Front
  • Back
Anti-Federalists
Those who favored strong stat governments and a weak national government
Articles of Confederation
the compact among the thirteen original states that was the basis of their government. Written in 1776, the Articles were not ratified by all the states until 1781.
Bill of Rights
the first ten amendments to eh US Constitution, they largely guarantee specific rights and liberties.
Checks and balances
A governmental structure that gives each of the three branches of government some degree of oversight and control over the actions of the others.
Committees of Correspondence
Organizations in each of the American colonies created to keep colonists abreast of developments with the British
Confederation
Type of government where the national government derives its powers from the states
Constitution
A document establishing the structure, functions, and limitations of a government.
Declaration of Independence
Document drafted by Thomas Jefferson in 1776 that proclaimed the right of the American colonies to separate from Great Britain.
Enumerated powers
Seventeen specific powers granted to congress under Article I, section 8, of the US Constitution
Federal system
System of government where the national government and state governments share some powers, derive all authority from the people, and the powers of the national government are specified in a constitution.
The Federalist Papers
A series of eighty-five political papers written by John Jay, Alexander Hamilton, and James Madison in support of ratification of the US Constitution.
Federalists
Those who favored a stronger national government and supported the proposed US Constitution
First Continental Congress
Meeting held in Philadelphia from September 5 to October 26, 1774, in which fifty-six delegates (from every colony except Georgia) adopted a resolution in opposition to the Coercive Acts.
Full faith and credit clause
Section of Article IV of the Constitution that ensures judicial decrees and contracts made in one state will be binding and enforceable in any other state.
Great Compromise
a decision made during the Constitutional convention to give each state the same number of representatives in the Senate regardless of size
Implied powers’
Powers derived from the enumerated powers and the necessary and proper clause. These powers are not stated specifically but are considered to be reasonably implied through the exercise of delegated powers.
Mercantilism
An economic theory designed to increase a nation’s wealth through the development of commercial industry and a favorable balance of trade.
Necessary and proper clause
The final paragraph of Article I, section 8, of the US Constitution, which gives congress the authority to pass all laws “necessary and proper” to carry out the enumerated powers specified in the Constitution
New Jersey Plan
A framework for the constitution proposed by a group of small states
Second Continental Congress
Meeting that convened in Philadelphia on May 10, 1775, at which it was decided that an army should be raised and George Washington of Virginia was named commander in chief.
Separation of powers
A way of dividing power among three branches of government in which member of the House of representative, members of the Senate, the president, and the federal courts are selected by and responsible to different constituencies.
Stamp Act Congress
Meeting of representatives of nine of the thirteen colonies held in New York City in 1765, during which representatives drafted a document to send to the king listing how their rights had been violated.
Supremacy clause
Portion of Article VI of the US Constitution mandating that national law is supreme to (that is, supersedes) all other laws passed by the states or by any other subdivision of government.
Three-Fifths compromise
Agreement reached at the Constitutional Convention stipulating that each slave was to be counted as three-fifths of a person for purpose of determining population for representation in the US House of Representatives.
Virginia Plan
the first general plan for the Constitution, proposed by James Madison and Edmund Randolph. Its key points were a bicameral legislature, an executive chose by the legislature, and a judiciary also named by the legislature.
What are the roots of the new American nation?
While settlers came to the New World for a variety of reasons, most remained loyal to Great Britain and considered themselves subjects of the king.
• Over the years, as new generations of Americans were born on colonial soil =, those ties weakened.
• A series of taxes levied by the crown ultimately led the colonists to convene a Continental Congress and to declare their independence.
What is the significance of the Articles of Confederation?
The Articles of Confederation (1781):
• Created a loose league of friendship between the new national government and the states.

Numerous weaknesses in the new government became apparent by 1784.

• Among the major flaws:
o Congress’s inability to tax or regulate commerce.
o The absence of an executive to administer the government.
o The lack of a strong central government.
o No judiciary.
What occurred at the Constitutional Convention and how was the US Constitution’s structure agreed upon?
When the weaknesses under the Articles of Confederation became apparent, the states called for a meeting to reform them

The Constitutional Convention (1787):

• Quickly threw out the Articles of Confederation.

• Fashioned a new more workable government

• It was the result of a series of compromises, including:
o Those over representation.
o Over issues involving large and small states.
o Over how to determine population.
o Compromises were also made about how member of each branch of government were to be selected.

The Electoral College was created to give states a key role in the selection of the president.
What ideas and principles are embodied in the US Constitution?
The proposed US Constitution created a federal system that drew heavily on Montesquieu’s ideas about separation of powers.

• These ideas concerned a way of:
o Parceling out power among the three branches of government.
o Checks and balances to prevent any one branch from having too much power.
How was the US Constitution ratified?
The drive for ratification became a fierce fight between Federalist s and Anti-federalists.

• Federalist lobbied for the strong national government created by the constitution.

• Anti-federalist favored great stat power.
How can the Constitution be amended?
The Framers did not want to fashion a government that could respond to the whims of the people.

• Therefore, they designed a deliberate two-stage formal amendment process that required approval on the federal and state levels; this process has rare been used.

• However, informal amendment prompted by judicial interpretation and by cultural and social change, have had a tremendous impact on the Constitution.