C.3 Constitution Vocabulary

Question 1

bicameral

Answer 1

a legislature consisting of two parts, or houses

Question 2

amendment

Answer 2

any change in the Constitution

Question 3

Preamble

Answer 3

the opening section of the Constitution

Question 4

separation of powers

Answer 4

the split of authority among the legislative, executive, and judicial branches

Question 5

concurrent powers

Answer 5

powers shared by the state and federal governments

Question 6

Constitutional Convention

Answer 6

meetings of state delegates in 1787 for the creation of a new Constitution

Question 7

ratified

Answer 7

to vote approval of

Question 8

checks and balances

Answer 8

a system in which each branch of government is able to check, or restrain, the power of the others

Question 9

federalism

Answer 9

a form of government in which power is divided between the federal, or national, government and the states

Question 10

Shays’s rebellion

Answer 10

an uprising of Massachusetts farmers who did not want to lose their farms because of debt caused by heavy state taxes after the American Revolution

Question 11

ordinances

Answer 11

laws, usually of a city or county

Question 12

limited government

Answer 12

a government can only do what the people allow it to do

Question 13

popular sovereignty

Answer 13

the idea that power lies with the people

Question 14

enumerated powers

Answer 14

powers directly granted to the national government by the Constitution

Question 15

legislative branch

Answer 15

the branch of government that interprets the laws

Question 16

confederation

Answer 16

a group of individuals or state governments

Question 17

reserved powers

Answer 17

powers the Constitution does not give to the national government but set aside for the states

Question 18

Federalist Papers

Answer 18

series of essays written to defend the Constitution

Question 19

constitution

Answer 19

a detailed written plan for government

Question 20

article

Answer 20

one of seven main parts of the Constitution

Question 21

Articles of Confederation

Answer 21

the first constitution of the US

Question 22

Northwest Ordinance

Answer 22

1787 law that set up a government for the Northwest Territory and set up a plan for admitting new states to the Union

Question 23

Electoral College

Answer 23

a group of people named by each state legislature to select the president and vice president

Question 24

federalist

Answer 24

a supporter of the Constitution

Question 25

anti-federalist

Answer 25

a person who opposed ratification of the Constitution

Question 26

rule of law

Answer 26

the principle that the law applies to everyone, even those who govern

Question 27

Supremacy Clause

Answer 27

a clause stating that the Constitution and other laws and treaties made by the national government are the “supreme law of the land”

Question 28

Great Compromise

Answer 28

agreement providing for a two house Congress

Question 29

Ordinance of 1785

Answer 29

a law that set up a plan for surveying western lands

Question 30

Three-Fifths Compromise

Answer 30

a compromise providing that enslaved persons would count as 3/5 of other persons in determining representation in Congress

Question 31

executive branch

Answer 31

the branch of government that carries out the laws

Question 32

judicial branch

Answer 32

the branch of government that interprets laws