Unit 1 - Founding of the Nation Flashcards
Enlightenment
• age of reason
• time when people started using
observation & science to determine how
things work
Declaration of Independence
• America’s letter telling England that we
were going to start our own country
Natural Rights
- life, liberty, property
* enlightenment idea
Social Contract
• governments are created to protect natural
rights, if they don’t, people can start a new
government
• enlightenment idea
Sovereignty
• the right to rule
Popular Sovereignty
- the right to rule comes from the people
* synonym–democracy
Grievance
• a reason for a complaint
Northwest Ordinance
• document created to govern the
Northwest Territory
• established several precedents for the US
Constitution
Territory
• a piece of land that is controlled by the
U.S., but that is not a state
Northwest Territory
• big piece of land that the US acquired after
the revolution
• what is now Ohio, Indiana, Illinois,
Wisconsin, & Michigan
Bill of Rights
• List of protections from the government
written into the US Constitution
• 1st 10 amendments to the US Constitution
Amendment
• a change to a written document
• there are 27 Amendments to the U.S.
Constitution
13th Amendment
• Ended Slavery
Constitution
• a list of what the government can and
cannot do
Democracy
- government run by the people
* based on majority rule