Chapter 2 pt.1 Flashcards
unalienable
a human right based on nature or God (natural rights)
Articles of Confederation
America’s first constitution; although considered weak, it governed the U.S. between 1781 and 1789
Constitutional Convention
A meeting in Philadelphia in 1787 that produced a new constitution
Shay’s Rebellion
A 1787 rebellion in which former Revolutionary War soldiers attempted to prevent foreclosures of farms as a result of high interest rates and taxes
Virginia Plan
Proposal to have a strong national government with a bicameral congress based on state populations
New Jersey Plan
Proposal to have a weak national government with a unicameral congress equally represented by each state
Connecticut Compromise
(often referred to as the Great Compromise) Plan to have a bicameral congress with a House of Representatives based on state population and a Senate equally represented by two senators from each state
republic
a government in which elected representatives make decisions
Federalists
supporters of the Constitution who favored a stronger national government
anti-federalists
those who were opposed to the Constitution
(writ of) Habeas Corpus
an order to produce an arrested person before a judge to be formally charged with a crime
bill of attainder
a law that declares a person, without a trial, to be guilty of a crime
ex post facto laws
a law that makes an act criminal although the act was legal when it was committed
Declaration of Independence
the document approved by the representatives of the American colonies in 1776 that stated their grievances against the British monarch and declared their independence
content of the governed
The idea that government derives its authority by sanction of the people
