Chapter 2 The Constitution

Question 1

An economic theory designed to increase a notion’s wealth through the development of commercial industry and a favorable balance of trade

Answer 1

mercantilism

Question 2

Meeting of representatives of nine of the thirteen colonies held in New York City in 1765, during which representatives drafted a document to send to the king listing how their rights had been violated

Answer 2

Stamp Act Congress

Question 3

Organizations in each of the American colonies created to keep colonists abreast of developments with the British; served as powerful molders of public opinion against the British

Answer 3

Committees of Correspondence

Question 4

Meeting held in Philadelphia from September 5 to October 26, 1774, in which fifty-six delegates (from every colony except Georgia) adopted a resolution in opposition to the Coercive Acts.

Answer 4

First Continental Congress

Question 5

Meeting the convened in Philadelphia on May 10, 1775, at which it was decided that an army should be raised and George Washington of Virginia was named commander in chief.

Answer 5

Second Continental Congress

Question 6

Document drafted by Thomas Jefferson in 1776 that proclaimed the right of the American colonies to separate from Great Britain

Answer 6

Declaration of Independence

Question 7

The compact among the thirteen original colonies that created a loose league of friendship, with the national government drawing its powers from the states

Answer 7

Articles of Confederation

Question 8

Type of government where the national government derives its powers from the states; a league of independent states

Answer 8

confederacy

Question 9

A 1786 rebellion in which an army of 1,500 disgruntled and angry farmers led by Daniel Shays marched to Springfield, Massachusetts, and forcibly restrained the state court from foreclosing mortgages on their farms

Answer 9

Shay’s rebellion

Question 10

A document establishing the structure, functions, and limitations of a government

Answer 10

constitution

Question 11

The general plan for the Constitution offered in Philadelphia. Its key points were a bicameral legislature, and an executive and a judiciary chosen by the national legislature

Answer 11

Virginia Plan

Question 12

A framework for the Constitution proposed by a group of small states. Its key points were a one-house legislature with one vote for each state, a Congress with the ability to raise revenue, and a Supreme Court with members appointed for life.

Answer 12

New Jersey Plan

Question 13

The final decision of the Constitutional Convention to create a two-house legislature with the lower house elected by the people and with powers divided between the two houses. It also made national law supreme.

Answer 13

Great Compromise

Question 14

Agreement reached at the Constitutional Convention stipulating that each slave was to be counted as three-fifths of a person for purposes of determining population for representation in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Answer 14

Three-Fifths Compromise

Question 15

A way of dividing the power of the government among the legislature, executive, and judicial branches, each staffed separately, with equality and interdependence of each branch ensured by the Constitution

Answer 15

separation of powers

Question 16

A constitutionally mandated structure that gives each of the three branches of government some degree of oversight and control over the others

Answer 16

checks and balances

Question 17

system of government where the national government and state governments share power, derive all authority from the people, and the powers of the government are specified in a constitution

Answer 17

federal system

Question 18

Seventeen specific powers granted to Congress under Article I, section 8, of the Constitution

Answer 18

enumerated powers

Question 19

The final paragraph of Article I, section 8, of the Constitution, which gives Congress the authority to pass all laws “necessary and proper” to carry out the enumerated powers specified in the Constitution; also called the elastic clause

Answer 19

necessary and proper clause

Question 20

Powers derived from the enumerated powers and the necessary and proper clause,. These powers are not stated specifically but are considered to be reasonably implied through the exercise of delegated powers

Answer 20

implied powers

Question 21

Section of Article IV of the Constitution that ensures judicial decrees and contracts made in one state will be binding and forcible in any other state

Answer 21

full faith and credit clause

Question 22

Portion of Article IV or the U.S. Constitution mandating that national law is supreme to (that is, supersedes) all other laws passed by the states or any subdivision of government

Answer 22

supremacy clause

Question 23

Those who favored a stronger national government and supported the proposed U.S. Constitution; later became the first U.S. political party

Answer 23

Federalists

Question 24

A series of eighty-five political essays written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay in support of ratification of the U.S. Constitution

Answer 24

The Federalist Papers

Question 25

The first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution, which largely guarantee specific rights and liberties

Answer 25

Bill of Rights