Ch05 Flashcards
Magna Carta
a charter of liberties agreed to by King John of England, it made the king obey the same laws as citizens
Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom
a document that gave people in Virginina freedom of worship and prohibited tax money from being used to fund churches
constitution
a set of basic principles that determines the powers and duties of a government
suffrage
voting rights
ratification
an official approval
Articles of Confederation
the document that created the first central government for the United States; was replaced by the Constitution in 1789
Northwest Territory
lands including present-day Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin; organized by the Northwest Ordinance of 1787
Land Ordinance of 1785
legislation passed by Congress authorizing surveys and the division of public lands in the western region of the country
Northwest Ordinance of 1787
legislation passed by Congress to establish a political structure for the Northwest Territory and create a system for the admission of new states
tariff
a tax on imports or exports
interstate commerce
trade between two or more states
depression
a steep drop in economic activity combined with rising unemployment
Shays’s Rebellion
an uprising of Massachusetts’s farmers, led by Daniel Shays, to protest high taxes, heavy debt, and farm foreclosures.
inflation
increased prices for goods and services combined with the reduced value of money
Constitutional Convention
a meeting held in Philadelphia at which delegates from the states wrote the Constitution
Virginia Plan
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
New Jersey Plan
a proposal to create a unicameral legislature with equal representation of states rather than representation by population; rejected at the Constitutional Convention
Great Compromise
an agreement worked out at the Constitutional Convention establishing that a state’s population would determine representation in the lower house of the legislature, while each state would have equal representation in the upper house of the legislature
Three-Fifths Compromise
an agreement worked out at the Constitutional Convention stating that only three-fifths of the slaves in a state would count when determining a state’s population for representation in the lower house of Congress
checks and balances
a system established by the Constitution that prevents any branch of government from becoming too powerful
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
legislative branch
the division of the government that proposes bills and passes them into laws
popular sovereignty
the idea that political authority belongs to the people
federalism
U.S. system of government in which power is distributed between a central government and individual states
Antifederalists
people who opposed ratification of the Constitution
Federalists
people who supported ratification of the Constitution
Federalist Papers
A collection of articles and essays written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay under the pseudonym “Publius” to promote the ratification of the United States Constitution.
Bill of Rights
the first 10 amendments to the Constitution; ratified in 1791
federal system
a system that divided powers between the states and the federal government
impeach
to bring charges against a public official
veto
to cancel a law
pardon
freedom from punishment
executive orders
nonlegislative directives issued by the U.S. president in certain circumstances; executive orders have the force of congressional law
Daniel Shays
Revolutionary War officer who led Shay’s Rebellion, an uprising of farmers in western Massachusetts that shut down the courts so that farmers would not lose their farms for tax debts. He was defeated and condemned to death, but pardoned
James Madison
American statesman, he was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention, the fourth president of the United States, the author of some of the Federalist Papers, and is called the father of the Constitution for his proposals at the Constiutitional Convention. He led the United States through the War of 1812.
Benjamin Franklin
Early American politician and inventor, he took a central role in helping form the government of the new United States, and acted as a foreign diplomat on behalf of the new nation
George Mason
American Patriot who became an Antifederalist and refused to sign the Constitution
Sandra Day O’Connor
Associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, she was the first woman appointed to the Court
Thurgood Marshall
First African American U.S. Supreme Court Justice, he represented as a lawyer the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and fought racial segregation
What was significant about the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom?
Written by Jefferson, it became the model for the First Amendment
How did the ratification of the Articles of Confederation go?
It was slowed by conflicts
What effect did the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 have on slavery?
Slavery was forbidden in the Northwest Territory
What were some military problems with the Articles of Confederation?
The federal government could not collect taxes and maintain its own army. It had to ask the states to use their own militias, which they didn’t like doing.
Why did delegates from the southern states threaten to leave the union during the discussions about the constitution?
They wanted to make sure they would be allowed to keep slavery
