Chapter 2 Vocab Flashcards
Anti-Federalists
People who oppose the U.S. Constitution and the federal government.
Articles of Confederation
The original constitution of the U.S., ratified in 1781, which was replaced by the U.S. Constitution in 1789.
Bill of Rights
The first then amendments to the U.S. Constitution, ratified in 1791 and guaranteeing such rights as the freedoms of speech, assembly, and worship.
Checks and Balances
Counterbalancing influences by which an organization or system is regulated, typically those ensuring that political power is not concentrated in the hands of individuals or groups.
Committees of Correspondence
A collection of American political organizations that sought to coordinate opposition to British Parliament prior to the American Revolution.
Confederation
An organization which consists of a number of parties or groups united in an alliance or league.
Constitution
A body of fundamental principles or established precedents according to which a state or other organization is acknowledged to be governed.
Declaration of Independence
The pronouncement and founding document adopted by the Second Continental Congress meeting in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on July 4th, 1776.
Enumerated Powers
The powers granted to the federal government of the United States Constitution
Federal System
A system in which the different states or provinces of the country have important powers to make their own laws and decisions.
Federalists
People who advocate or support a system of government in which several states unite under a central authority.
First Continental Congress
A meeting that occurred between September and October 1774 between delegates from twelve of Britain’s thirteen American colonies, where they discussed America’s future under growing British aggression.
Full Faith and Credit Clause
Article IV, Section 1 of the United States Constitution, which addresses the duty that states within the United States have to respect the “public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other state.”
The Great Compromise
An agreement reached during the Constitutional Convention of 1787 that in part defined the legislative structure and representation each state would have under the United States Constitution.
Implied Powers
Political powers granted to the United States that aren’t explicitly stated in the Constitution.
Mercantilism
The economic theory that trade generates wealth and is stimulated by the accumulation of profitable balances, which a government should encourage by means of protectionism.
Necessary and Proper Clause
Article I, Section 8 in the US Constitution, which enables Congress to pass special laws to require other departments of the government to prosecute or adjudicate particular claims.
New Jersey Plan
A plan designed to protect the security and power of the small states by limiting each state to one vote in Congress, as under the Articles of Confederation.
Second Continental Congress
A meeting of delegates from the Thirteen Colonies that occurred in 1776 and took the momentous step of declaring America’s independence from Britain.
Separation of Powers
An act of vesting the legislative, executive, and judicial powers of government in separate bodies.
Shay’s Rebellion
A series of violent attacks on courthouses and other government properties in Massachusetts that began in 1786 and led to a full-blown military confrontation in 1787.
Stamp Act Congress
A meeting held in New York throughout October of 1765, where representatives from several American colonies devised a unified protest against British taxation.
Elastic Clause
A statement in the U.S. Constitution (Article I, Section 8) granting Congress the power to pass all laws necessary and proper for carrying out the enumerated list of powers.
The Federalist Papers
A collection of 85 articles and essays written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay under the collective pseudonym “Publius” to promote the ratification of the Constitution of the United States.
Three-Fifths Compromise
An agreement reached during the 1787 United States Constitutional Convention over the counting of slaves in determining a state’s total population.
Virginia Plan
A plan proposed at the Constitutional Convention providing for a legislature of two houses with proportional representation in each house and executive and judicial branches to be chosen by the legislature.
