Chapter 4 Flashcards
The purpose of what meeting in 1786, which proved to be disappointing, was to discuss ways of improving the general condition of the national government? [It was after the Mount Vernon Conference.]
Annapolis Convention
The convention in Philadelphia that was called for the purpose of revising the Articles of Confederation. When? How many delegates in total attended it?
Constitutional Convention; 1787; fifty-five
The “Father of the Constitution” whose political thought may be summed up in three words: constitutionalism, republicanism, and federalism.
James Madison
Who were the two most famous Americans to attend the Constitutional Convention? Who was the youngest? Optional: Which one presided as chairman of the Constitutional Convention?
George Washington and Benjamin Franklin; Jonathan Dayton; George Washington
A system of government that divides political power between the national government and the state governments.
Federal system
Plan proposed by Edmund Randolph that called for a bicameral (two-house) legislature: representation in each house was to be proportional.
Virginia Plan
Plan proposed by William Paterson that called for a unicameral (one-house) legislature, with all states having equal representation.
New Jersey Plan
Compromise whose terms are that the national legislature would be bicameral, comprising an upper house (the Senate), in which each state would get two seats, and a lower house (the House of Representatives), in which representation would be based on state population.
Great Compromise (Connecticut Compromise)
What compromise stated that three fifths of a state’s slave population would be counted in determining both taxation and representation?
Three-Fifths Compromise
What compromise stated that Congress could regulate interstate and foreign commerce and the trade with the Native Americans but could not levy export taxes and that Congress could not regulate the slave trade until the year 1808?
Commerce and Slave Trade Compromise
Those who favored the new Constitution. Those who opposed its adoption?
Federalists; Anti-Federalists
Essays written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay that are considered the premier commentary on the Constitution.
Federalist (Federalist Papers)
The temporary capital of America’s new government.
New York City
When did America’s new government under the Constitution begin to function? The year George Washington was inaugurated.
1789
What document is called the forerunner of the written constitution in America? Provides an example of American self-inititative.
Mayflower Compact
A document issued by the crown which established the relationship between the king and his subjects in the colonies. [Helped the American colonists become accustomed to conforming their laws to a “higher law.”]
Charter
America’s first national constitution. Optional: List at least of its weaknesses.
Article of Confederation;
* At least nine states had to approve any measure before it could be passed by Congress.
* The Articles provided no executive or judicial branches of government.
* The Articles did not grant Congress the power to tax.
A system of government in which the central government is subordinate to state governments and has only the powers which they grant it.
Confederacy
What act provided for the surveying of western lands in the Northwest Territory?
Land Ordinance of 1785
Provided a plan of government for the Northwest Territory and set an important precedent for the equality of the states by stipulating that the new states carved out of the territory were to enter the Union “on an equal footing with the original States in all respects whatever.”
Northwest Ordinance of 1787
An armed uprising that took place from 1786 to 1787 in Massachusetts, led by Daniel Shays; fueled by economic distress, high taxes, and the lack of government response to the financial struggles of farmers.
Shays’ Rebellion
A form of government in which voters elect others to represent them in government.
Republic
A notable attendant of the Constitutional Convention who wrote the final draft of the Constitution.
Gouverneur Morris
What three limits did the Founders place in the Constitution to guard against absolute political power?
Federalism, separation of powers, and checks and balances
Those powers that have been given to the national government by the Constitution.
Delegated powers
Powers not given to the national government by the Constitution or prohibited by the Constitution but are reserved for the state or for the people.
Reserved powers (residual powers)
Powers which are given to both the national government and the state governments.
Ex: Taxation
Concurrent powers
A division of power among separate political institutions.
Separation of powers
The idea for the separation of powers comes from what Frenchman who in his book The Spirit of the Laws said that the greatest enemy to liberty is tyranny and that tyranny occurs when any single political group controls all power?
Charles de Montesquieu
Branch of the American government who makes the laws.
Legislative branch
Branch of the American government which carries out, or executes the laws.
Executive branch
Branch of the American government which interprets the laws according to the Constitution.
Judicial
A system whereby each branch of government exercises a measure of control over the other branches (“checks” them) in an effort to balance the power within the national government.
Checks and balances
Which articles of the Constitution describe the legislative, executive, and judicial branches, respectively, and how the members of the three branches of the federal government are chosen, how long they shall serve, and what qualifications they must have for office?
Articles I-III
Which article of the Constitution outlines the federal relationship among the states and between the national government and the states?
Article IV
Which article of the Constitution provides for making amendments (changes in the Constitution), which requires two steps: proposal and ratification?
Article V
Which article establishes that the Constitution is the supreme law of the land, to which all judges and federal and state officers are bound? The “linchpin of the Constitution.”
Article VI
Which article of the Constitution sets forth the manner in which the Constitution was to be ratified?
Article VII
