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25 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Mercantilism |
An economic theory designed to increase a nation's wealth through the development of commercial industry and a favorable balance of trade |
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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 |
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Committees of Correspondence |
Organizations in each of the American colonies created to keep colonists abreast of developments with the British; served as powerful molders of public opinion against the British |
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First Continental Congress |
Meeting held in Philadelphia from September 5 to October 26, 1774, in which 56 delegates (from every colony except Georgia) adopted a resolution in opposition to the Coercive Acts |
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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 |
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Confederation |
Type of government where the national government derives its powers from the states; a league of independent states |
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Declaration of Independence |
Document drafted by Thomas Jefferson in 1776 that proclaimed the right of the American colonies to separate from Great Britain |
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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 |
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Shays' Rebellion |
A 1786 rebellion in which an army of 1,500 disgruntled and angry farmers led by Daniel Shays marched to Springfield, Massachusetts, and forcibly restrained the state court from foreclosing mortgages on their forms |
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Constitution |
A document establishing the structure, functions, and limitations of a government |
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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 chosen by the legislation, and a judiciary also named by the legislature |
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New Jersey Plan |
A framework for the Constitution proposed by a group of small states; its key points were a one-house legislature with one vote for each state, the establishment of the acts of Congress as the "supreme law" of the land, and a supreme judiciary with limited power |
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Great Compromise |
A decision made during the Constitutional Convention to give each state the same number of representatives in the Senate regardless of size; representation in the House was determined by population |
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Three-Fifths Compromise |
Agreement reached at the Constitutional Convention specifying that each slave was to be counted as three-fifths of a person for purposes of determining population for representation in the U.S. House of Representatives |
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Separation of Powers |
A way of dividing power among three branches of government in which members of the House of Representatives, members of the Senate, the president, and the federal courts are selected by and responsible to different bodies of voters |
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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 others |
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Federal System |
Plan of government created in the U.S. Constitution in which power is divided between the national government and the state governments and in which independent states are bound together under one national government |
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Enumerated Powers |
Seventeen specific powers granted to Congress under Article I, section 8, of the U.S. Constitution; these powers include taxation, coinage of money, regulation of commerce, and the authority to provide for a national defense |
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Necessary and Proper Clause |
The final paragraph of Article I, section 8, of the U.S. Constitution, which gives Congress the authority to pass all laws "necessary and proper" to carry out the enumerated powers specified in the Constitution; also called the elastic clause |
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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 |
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Supremacy Clause |
Portion of Article VI of the U.S. 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 |
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Federalists |
Those who favored a stronger national government and supported the proposed U.S. Constitution; later became the first American political party |
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Anti-Federalists |
Those who favored strong state governments and a weak national government; opposed the ratification of the U.S. Constitution |
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"The Federalist Papers" |
A series of 85 political papers written by John Jay, Alexander Hamilton, and James Madison in support of ratification of the U.S. Constitution |
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Bill of Rights |
The first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution |
