Chapter 2-The Constitution Flashcards
Stamp Act Congress
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 that listed how their rights had been violated.
Committees of Correspondence
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.
First Continental Congress
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.
Second Continental Acts
Meeting that 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.
Declaration of Independence
Document drafted largely by Thomas Jefferson in 1776 that proclaimed the right of American colonies to separate from Great Britain.
Articles of Confederation
The compact between the thirteen original colonies that created a loose league of friendship, with the national government drawing its powers from the states.
Confederation
Type of government in which the national government derives its powers form the states; a league of independent states.
Shays’s Rebellion
A 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.
Constitution
A document establishing the structure, functions, and limitations of a government.
Virginia Plan
The first general plan for the Constitution offered in Philadelphia. Its key points were a bicameral legislature, as well as an executive and a judiciary chosen by the national legislature.
New Jersey Plan
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.
Great Compromise
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.
Mercantilism
An economic theory designed to increase a nation’s wealth through the development of commercial industry and a favorable balance of trade.
Three-Fifths Compromise
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.
Separation of Powers
A way of dividing the power of government among the legislative, executive, and judicial branches, each staffed separately, with equality and independence of each branch ensured by the Constitution.
Checks and Balances
A constitutionally mandated structure that gives each of the three branches of government some degree of oversight and control over the actions of the others.
Federal System
System of government in which the national government and state governments share power and derive all authority from the people.
Enumerated Powers
The powers of the national government specifically granted to Congress in Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution.
Necessary and Proper Clause
The final paragraph of Article 1, Section 8, of the Constitution, which gives Congress the authority to pass all laws “necessary and proper” to carry out the enumerated powers specified int he Constitution; also called the elastic clause.
Implied Powers
The powers of the national government derived from the enumerated powers and the necessary and proper clause.
Full Faith and Credit Clause
Section of Article 4 of the Constitution that ensures judicial decrees and contracts made in one state will be binding and enforceable in any other state.
Supremacy Clause
Portion of Article 4 of the Constitution mandating that national law is supreme to (that is, supersedes) all other laws passed by the states or by any other subdivision of government.
Federalists
Those who favored a stronger national government and supported the proposed U.S. Constitution; later became the first U.S. politics party.
Anti-Federalists
Those who favored strong state governments and a weak national government; opposed ratification of the U.S. Constitution.
“The Federalist Papers”
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.
Bill of Rights
The first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution, which largely guarantee specific rights and liberties.
