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23 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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feudalism |
a social system in which a rigid social and political hierarchy was based on the ownership of land |
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slavery |
the ownership, for forced labor, of one people by another |
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French and Indian War |
a war fought between France and England, and allied Indians, from 1754-1776; resulted in France's expulsion from the New World |
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popular sovereignty |
the concept that the citizens are the ultimte source of political power |
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Common Sense |
1776 pamphlet by Thomas Paine that persuaded many Americans to support the Revolutionary cause |
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Declaration of Independence |
the political document that dissolved the colonial ties between the United States and Britain |
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constitution |
the rules that establish a government |
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Articles of Confederation |
the first constitution of the United States (1777) creating an association of states with weak central government
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confederation |
government in which independent states unite for common purpose but retain their own sovereignty |
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popular tyranny |
the unrestricted power of the people |
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Shay's Rebellion |
a grassroots uprising (1787) by armed Massachusetts farmers protesting foreclosures |
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Constitutional Convention |
the assembly of fifty-five delegates in the summer of 1787 to recast the Articles of Confederation: the result was the U.S. Constitution |
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federalism |
a political system in which power is divided between the central and regional units |
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Federalists |
supporters of the Constitution who favored a strong central government |
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Anti-Federalists |
advocates of states' rights who opposed the Constitution |
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Virginia Plan |
a proposal at the Constitutional Convention that congressional representation be based on population, thus favoring the large states |
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New Jersey Plan |
a proposal at the Constitutional Convention that congressional representation be equal, favoring smaller states |
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Great Compromise |
the constitutional solution to congressional representation: equal votes in the Senate, votes by population in the House |
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Three-fifths Compromise |
the formula for counting five slaves as three people for purposes of representation, which reconciled northern and southern factions at the Constitutional Convention |
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ratification |
the process through which a proposal is formally approved and adopted by vote |
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The Federalists Papers |
a series of essays written to build support for ratification of the Constitution |
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factions |
groups of citizens united by some common passion or interest and opposed to the rights of other citizens or to the interests of the whole community |
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Bill of Rights |
a summary of citizen rights guaranteed and protected by a government; added to the Constitution as its first ten amendments in order to achieve ratification |
