Ch. 2 - Establishing A Constitutional Democracy

Front 1

1787

Back 1

Constitutional Convention

Front 2

Constitution

Back 2

Basic governing document of the United States

Front 3

Federalists

Back 3

Those who wrote and campaigned on behalf of ratification of the Constitution

Front 4

Anti-Federalists

Back 4

Those who opposed the ratification of the Constitution

Front 5

Divine Right

Back 5

Doctrine that says God selects the sovereign for the people

Front 6

Royal Colony

Back 6

Colony governed by the king's representative with the advice of an elected assmebly

Front 7

Mayflower Compact

Back 7

First document in colonial america in which the popel gave their expressed consent to be governed

Front 8

Proprietary Colony

Back 8

Colony governed either by a porminent English noble or by a company

Front 9

Colonial Assembly

Back 9

Lower legislative chamber elected by male property owners in a colony

Front 10

Colonial Council

Back 10

Upper legislative chamber whose members were appointed by british officials on the recommendation of the governor

Front 11

Patronage

Back 11

Appointment of individuals to public office in exchange for their political support. Widely practiced in the 18th and 19th centuries and continues to present day

Front 12

Stamp Act

Back 12

Passed by Parliament in 1765, it required people in the colonies to purchase a small stamp to be affixed to legal and other documents

Front 13

Taxation Without Representation

Back 13

Levying of taxes by a government in which the popel are not represented by their own elected officials

Front 14

Stamp Act Congress

Back 14

A meeting in 1765 of delegates from nine colonies to oppose the Stamp Act; the first political organization that brought leaders from several colonies together for a common purpose

Front 15

Patriots

Back 15

Political group defending colonial American liberties against British infringements

Front 16

First Continental Congress

Back 16

1774 - The first quasi-governmental institution that spoke for nearly all colonists

Front 17

Second Continental Congress

Back 17

1775 - Political authority that directed the struggle for independence

Front 18

Declaration of Independence

Back 18

1776 - Declaring the United States to be a country independant of Great Britian

Front 19

Tories

Back 19

Those colonists who opposed independence from Great Britian

Front 20

Seperation of Powers

Back 20

A system of government in which different institutions exercese different components of governmental power

Front 21

Whigs

Back 21

Political opposition in 18th century England that developed a theory of rights and representation

Front 22

Articles of Confederation

Back 22

1782-1789 - The first basic governing document of the United States and forerunner to the Constitution

Front 23

Shay's Rebellion

Back 23

1786 - Uprising in western Massachusetts led by Revolutionary War captain Daniel Shays

Front 24

Annapolis Convention

Back 24

1786 - Meeting to discuss constitutional reform

Front 25

Virginia Plan

Back 25

Constitutional proposal supported by concention delegats from large states

Front 26

New Jersey Plan

Back 26

Small-state proposal for constitutional reform

Front 27

Connecticut Compromise

Back 27

Constitutional Convention proposal that created a House proportionate to population and a Senate in which all states were represented equally

Front 28

Necessary and Proper Clause

Back 28

Says congress has the power to "make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution" its other powers

Front 29

Advice and consent

Back 29

Support for a presiential action by a designated number of senators

Front 30

Mojority

Back 30

50% + 1

Front 31

Electoral College

Back 31

Those chosen to cast a direct vote for president by a process determined by each state

Front 32

Judicial Review

Back 32

Court authority to declare laws null and void on the grounds that they violate the Constitution

Front 33

Supremacy Clause

Back 33

Part of the Constitution that says the Constitution is the "supreme law of the land," to which all judges are bound

Front 34

Three-Fifths Compromise

Back 34

Constitutional provision that counted each slave as 3/5 of a person when calculating representation in the House; repealed by the 14th Amendment

Front 35

Bill of Rights

Back 35

The first 10 amendments to the Constitution, which protect individual and state rights

Front 36

Federalst Papers

Back 36

Essays that were written in support of the Constitution's ratification and have become a classic argument for the American constitutional system

Front 37

Checks and Balances

Back 37

Constitutional division of power into separate institutions, giving each istitution the power to block the actions of the others

Front 38

13th Amendment

Back 38

Abolished slavery

Front 39

14th Amendment

Back 39

Defines citizens

Front 40

15th Amendment

Back 40

Blacks can vote

Front 41

17th Amendment

Back 41

Direct election of senators

Front 42

19th Amendment

Back 42

Women can vote

Front 43

22nd Amendment

Back 43

Two term limit on presidents

Front 44

24th Amendment

Back 44

Abolishes taxes on voting

Front 45

26th Amendment

Back 45

18 years to vote