Forming A Government Chapter 7

Front 1

Define constitution

Back 1

A constitution is a set of basic principles and laws that state the powers and duties of the government.

Front 2

Define republicanism

Back 2

Support for a system of representative government known as a republic.

Front 3

Define limited government

Back 3

A political principles which holds that government should be bound by laws that limit its power.

Front 4

Define suffrage

Back 4

Voting rights

Front 5

Define ratification

Back 5

Official approval

Front 6

What is the Virginia Statute of Religious Freedom

Back 6

This law promoted the separation of church and state in Virginia.

Front 7

What is the Articles of Confederation

Back 7

Document that created the first central government for the United States; was replace by the Constitution in 1789

Front 8

What is the Land Ordinance of 1785

Back 8

Legislation passed by Congress authorizing surveys and the division of public lands in the western region of the country.

Front 9

What is the Northwest Territory

Back 9

Lands including present-day Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin, and part of Minnesota; organized by the Northwest Ordinance of 1878.

Front 10

What is a tariff

Back 10

Taxes on imports or exports

Front 11

What is interstate commerce

Back 11

trade that is conducted between states

Front 12

What is inflation

Back 12

Increased prices for goods and services combined with the reduced value of money.

Front 13

What is a debtor

Back 13

People who owe money.

Front 14

What is a creditor

Back 14

People who lend money.

Front 15

What is inflation

Back 15

Increased prices for goods and services combined with the reduced value of money.

Front 16

What was the Shays's Rebellion

Back 16

Uprising of Massachusetts's farmers, led by Daniel Shays, to protest high taxes, heavy debt, and farm foreclosures

Front 17

Who was Daniel Shays

Back 17

He was a poor farmer and Revolutionary War veteran who became the main leader of the Shays's Rebellion.

Front 18

What is a depression

Back 18

A steep drop in economic activity combined with rising unemployment.

Front 19

What is Popular Sovereignty

Back 19

The idea that political authority belongs to the people; principle that would allow voters in a particular territory to decide whether to ban or permit slavery.

Front 20

What is Federalism

Back 20

System of government in which power is distributed between a central authority and individual states.

Front 21

What is the Legislative Branch

Back 21

Division of the government that proposes bills and passes them into laws.

Front 22

What is the Executive Branch

Back 22

Division of the federal government that includes the president and the administrative departments; enforces the nation's laws.

Front 23

What is the Judicial Branch

Back 23

Division of the federal government tht is made up of the national courts; interprets laws, punishes criminals, and settles disputes between states.

Front 24

What is the system of Checks and Balances

Back 24

A system established by the Constitution that prevents any branch of government from becoming too powerful.

Front 25

What was the Constitutional Convention

Back 25

Meeting in Philadelphia at which delegates from the states wrote the Constitution.

Front 26

Who is James Madison

Back 26

He wrote most of the Virginia Plan (large-state plan. It offered a new federal constitution that would give sovereignty, or supreme power, to the central government.

Front 27

What is the Virginia Plan

Back 27

Plan for government proposed at the Constitutional Convention in which the national government would have three branches: executive, judicial, and legislative. Representation in the legislature would be determined by state population.

Front 28

Who was William Paterson

Back 28

A New Jersey delegate who presented the small-state or New Jersey Plan.

Front 29

What is the New Jersey Plan

Back 29

Proposal ato create a unicameral government with representation by state rather than by population; rejected at the Constitutional Convention.

Front 30

What was the Great Compromise

Back 30

Agreement at the Constitutional Convention establishing a state's population would determine representation in lower house of the legislature, while each state would have equal representation in the upper house of the legislature.

Front 31

What was the Three-Fifths Compromise

Back 31

Agreement worked out at the Constitutional Convention stating that 3/5 ths of the slaves in each state should be counted as part of the state's population for determining representation in the lower house of Congress.

Front 32

What are Amendments

Back 32

Official changes, corrections, or additions to a law or constitution.

Front 33

What are the Antifederalists

Back 33

People who opposed ratification of the Constitution

Front 34

Who was George Mason

Back 34

An antifederalists who warned against the power of a strong government.

Front 35

What are the Federalists

Back 35

System of government in which power is distributed between a central authority and invididual states.

Front 36

What is the Federalists Papers

Back 36

Series of essays that defended the Constitution and tried to reassure Americans that the states would not be overpowered by the proposed national government.

Front 37

What is the Bill of Rights

Back 37

First ten amendments to the Constitution; ratified in 1791

Front 38

What English and colonial examples of political ideas did Americans draw from when creating their new government

Back 38

Democracy from the Roman Republic. English law from England. England had limited the power of its kings and queens in two documents - Magna Carta and the English Bill of Rights. Also influenced by the Enlightenment. Writers of that period had called for the use of reason and exspressed a belief in human goodness.

Front 39

What did the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 accomplish

Back 39

The ordinance created the Northwest Territory. Also created a system for bringing new states into the Union. When population of a territory reached 60,000, the people could ask Congress for permission to join the Union as a state. Also had a bill of rights, required public education and no slavery.

Front 40

How did a weak central government affect the American economy

Back 40

Britian forced American merchants to pay high duties on U.S. exports. The Confederation Congress could not fix the problem because it did not have the power to pass tariffs. If one state passed a tariff, the British could simply sell their goods in another state. Most states did not cooperate when passing tariffs. British goods flowed freely into the U.S. and American exports dropped. British merchants undersold locally maded goods.