APGovCh.2.Jimmy.Dimas Flashcards
Alexander Hamilton
A key Framer who envisioned a powerful central government, co-authored The Federalist Papers, and served as the first Secretary of the Treasury.
Anti-Federalists
Those who favored strong state government and a weak national government; opposed ratification of the U.S. Constitution.
Article I
Vests all legislative powers in the Congress and establishes a bicameral legislature, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives; it also sets out the qualification for holding office in each house, the terms of office, the methods of selection of representatives and senators, and the system of apportionment among the states to determine membership in the House of Representatives.
Article II
Vests the executive power, that is, the authority to execute the laws of the nation, in a president of the United States; section 1 sets the president’s term of office at four years and explains the Electoral College and states the qualifications for office and describes a mechanism to replace the president in case of death, disability, or removed from office.
Article III
Establishes a Supreme Court and defines its jurisdiction.
Article IV
Mandates that states honor the laws and judicial proceedings of other states. also includes the mechanisms for admitting new states to the union.
Article V
Specifies how amendments can be added to the Constitution.
Article VI
Contains the supremacy clause, which asserts the basic primacy of the Constitution and national law over state laws and constitutions.
Articles of Confederation
The compact between the thirteen original colonies that created a loose league of friendship, with the national government drawing its powers from the states.
Benjamin Franklin
A brilliant inventor and senior statesman at the Constitutional Convention who urged colonial unity as early as 1754, twenty-two years before the Declaration of Independence.
Bill of Rights
The first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution, which largely guarantee specific rights and liberties.
Checks and balances
A constitutionally mandated structure that gives each of the three branches of government some degree of oversight and control over the actions of the others.
Common Sense
A pamphlet written by Thomas Paine that challenged the authority of the British government to govern the colonies.
Constiution
A document establishing the structure, functions, and limitations of a government.
Constitutional Convention
The meeting in Philadelphia in 1787 that was first intended to revise the Articles of Confederation but produced an entirely new document, the U.S. Constitution.
Crispus Attucks
An African American and first American to die in what be came known as the Boston Massacre in 1770.
Critical Period
The chaotic period from 1781 to 1789 after the American Revolution during which the former colonies were governed under the Articles of Confederation.
Declaration of Independence
Document drafted largely by Thomas Jefferson in 1776 that proclaimed the right of the American colonies to separate from Great Britain.
Electoral College
The system established by the Constitution through which the president is chosen by electors from each state, which has as many electoral votes as it has members of Congress.
Enumerated Powers
The powers of the national government specifically granted to Congress in Article I, section 8 of the Constitution.