Creating a Republic Flashcards
What is a constitution?
A constitution is a written plan of the government.
What is our first constitution called?
Articles of Confederation.
What were the weaknesses of the Articles of the Confederation?
- No President(Executive) - Couldn’t Tax - Can’t enforce laws
- No Courts( Judicial) - Can’t regulate trade
What did the Northwest Ordinance do?
Why did farmers rebel in Massachusetts in 1778?
Farmers rebelled in Massachusetts in 1786, cause they didn’t want to pay taxes and the government would take their properties if they didn’t pay.
How did Shay’s Rebellion impact the US?
After Shays’ Rebellion, the nation realized that the Articles of Confederation was not working and called for a meeting to revise it.
Explain the two plans of government debated over at the Constitutional Convention.
The Virginia Plan: The Virginia Plan created a government with three branches: a two-house (bicameral) legislature, a chief executive chosen by the legislature, and a court system. The number of representatives would be proportional, meaning based on the population of each state. A larger state would get more representatives than the smaller states.
The New Jersey Plan: The plan called for only one house (unicameral) legislature and representation would be equal from each state.
What does Bicameral mean?
Bicameral means a two-house legislature.
What does unicameral mean?
Unicameral means a one-house legislature.
Explain the great Compromise.
The Senate would have an equal number of representatives from each state. This would satisfy the states with smaller populations. The House of Representatives would include one representative for each 30,000 individuals in a state. This pleased states with larger populations. This is the Great Compromise.
Explain the Three-Fifths Compromise.
Because the delegates did not want to use the word “slave” in the document, they stated that “free persons” would count as one and “non-free persons” would count as three-fifths of a person. This became known as the Three-Fifths Compromise.
What are the reserved powers? Give two examples.
Powers the state governments are given. Ex: licence, medication
What are delegated powers? Give two examples.
Powers given just for the federal government. Ex: print money, post office, declare war
What are concurrent powers? Give two examples.
Shared by federal and state governments. Ex: taxes, voting rights
Who is the head of the executive branch? Explain the job of the Executive branch.
The President is the head of the Executive Branch. Their job is to enforce/carry out the laws.
What groups make up the Legislative branch? Explain the job of the Legislative branch.
Congress makes up the Legislative Branch. Their job is to interpret the laws.
What is the main body of the Judicial branch? Explain the job of the Judicial branch.
The Supreme Court i the main body of the Judicial Branch. Their job is to interpret the laws.
Federalism-
Federalism is the division of power among a central government and smaller regional governments.The federal government deals with issues that affect the entire country. Second, each state also has its own state government that only handles the affairs of that state.
Separation of powers-
The separation of power so the national government wouldn’t have too much power.
Checks and Balance-
In order to guarantee that each branch never became too powerful, the Framers of the Constitution also set up a system called Checks and Balances. This means that each branch has ways to check and limit the power of the other branches.
Limited Government-
Limited government is when the powers of the government are strictly defined. A limited government has only those powers that are given to it by the people.
Representative Government-
Government where citizens elect representatives to the government.
Popular Sovereignty-
Popular sovereignty means that the people are the highest authority. The people delegate their authority to the government. Government gets its right to govern from the people.
Individual Rights-
Guarantees that the government may not take away the individual freedoms of the people. These liberties include freedom of speech, freedom of the press and freedom of religion.
