5:3 Creating the Constitution Flashcards
Constitutional Convention
a meeting in Philadelphia, 1787, at which delegates from the states wrote the Constitution
James Madison
4th President of the United States
Virginia Plan (1787)
the plan for government proposed at the Constitutional Convention in which the national government would have supreme power and a legislative branch would have two houses with representation determined by state population (large state plan)
New Jersey Plan
a proposal to create a unicameral legislature with equal representation of states rather than representation by population (small state plan); rejected at the Constitutional Convention
Great Compromise (1787)
an agreement worked out at the Constitutional Convention establishing that a state’s population would determine representation in the lower house of the legislature (House of Representatives), while each state would have equal representation in the upper house (Senate)
Three-Fifths Compromise
an agreement worked out at the Constitutional Convention stating that only three-fifths of a state’s slaves would count when determining a state’s population for representation in the lower house of Congress
Popular Sovereignty
the idea that political authority belongs to the people (through voting)
Legislative branch
the division of the government that proposes bills and passes them into laws
executive branch
the division of the federal government that includes the president and the administrative departments; enforces the nation’s laws
judicial branch
the division of the federal government that is made up of the national courts; interprets laws, punishes criminals, and settles disputes between states
checks and balances
a system established by the Constitution that prevents any branch of government from becoming too powerful
federalism
U.S. system of government in which power is distributed between a central government and individual states
