Ch.2 Vocab

Question 1

a government ruled by representatives of the people

Answer 1

republic

Question 2

a document that sets out the fundamental principles of governance and establishes the institutions of government

Answer 2

constitution

Question 3

a governing document that created a union of 13 sovereign states in which the states, not the national government, were supreme

Answer 3

Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union

Question 4

a one-house legislature

Answer 4

unicameral

Question 5

a popular uprising against the government of Massachusetts

Answer 5

Shay’s Rebellion

Question 6

a meeting attended by state delegates in 1787 to fix the Articles of Confederation

Answer 6

Constitutional Convention

Question 7

the right of people detained by the government to know the charges against them

Answer 7

writ of habeas corpus

Question 8

when the legislature declares someone guilty without a trial

Answer 8

bills of attainder

Question 9

laws punishing people for acts that were not crimes at the time they were committed

Answer 9

ex post facto laws

Question 10

a plan of government calling for a 3-branch government with a bicameral legislature, where more populous states would have more representation in Congress

Answer 10

Virginia Plan

Question 11

a plan of government that provided for a unicameral legislature with equal votes for each state.

Answer 11

New Jersey Plan

Question 12

a committee at the Constitutional Convention that worked out the compromise on representation

Answer 12

Grand Committee

Question 13

drew upon both the Virginia and New Jersey plans; settled issues of state representation by calling for a bicameral legislature with a HOR and a Senate apportioned proportionately

Answer 13

Great (Connecticut) Compromise

Question 14

a two-house legislature

Answer 14

bicameral

Question 15

an agreement reached by delegates at the Constitutional Convention that a slave would count as 3/5th of a person in calculating a state’s representation

Answer 15

3/5 Compromise

Question 16

congress could not restrict the slave trade until 1808

Answer 16

Compromise on Importation

Question 17

a design of government that distributes powers across institutions in order to avoid making one branch too powerful on its own

Answer 17

separation of powers

Question 18

design of government in which each branch has powers that can prevent the other branches from making policy

Answer 18

checks and balances

Question 19

the sharing of power between the national government and the states

Answer 19

federalism

Question 20

the institutions responsible for making laws

Answer 20

legislative branch

Question 21

authority specifically granted to a branch of government in the Constitution

Answer 21

expressed of enumerated powers

Question 22

language in Article 1, Section 8. granting Congress the powers necessary to carry out its enumerated powers

Answer 22

necessary and proper/elastic clause

Question 23

authority of the federal government that goes beyond its expressed powers

Answer 23

implied powers

Question 24

the institution responsible for carrying out laws passed by the legislative branch

Answer 24

executive branch

Question 25

the institution responsible for hearing and deciding causes through the federal courts

Answer 25

judicial branch

Question 26

constitutional provisions declaring that the Constitution and all national laws and treaties are the supreme law of the land

Answer 26

supremacy clause

Question 27

the process by which changes may be made to the Constitution

Answer 27

amendment

Question 28

supporters of the proposed Constitution, who called for a strong national government

Answer 28

Federalist

Question 29

those opposed to the proposed Constitution, who favored stronger state governments

Answer 29

Antifederalists

Question 30

a series of 85 essays written by Alexander Hamilton (51), James Madison (29), and John Jay (5) and published between 1787 and 1788 that lay out the theory behind the Constitution

Answer 30

Federalist Papers

Question 31

a essay in which Madison argues that separation of powers and federalism will prevent tyranny

Answer 31

Federalist No.51

Question 32

a group of self-interested people who use the government to get what they want, trampling the rights of others in the process

Answer 32

faction

Question 33

an essay in which Madison argues that the dangers of faction can be mitigated by a large republic and republican government

Answer 33

Federalist No.10

Question 34

an Antifederalist paper arguing that the country was too large to be governed as a republic and that the Constitution gave too much power to the national government

Answer 34

Brutus No.1