Vincent Avila Flashcards
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Alexander Hamilton
American statesman and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. Had a role in the militia during Revolutionary War.
Anti-Federalism
A person who opposed the ratification of the Constitution in 1789 and opposed extension of the powers of the federal government.
Article I
Gives Congress its powers and limits.
Article II
Sets forth the definition and terms of the Executive Branch of Government.
Article III
Creates the judicial branch in the United States. The Judicial branch is the system of courts that look at the law and applies it to different cases.
Article IV
States must honor each other’s laws. If you are a criminal in one state you are a criminal in all others.
Article V
The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Constitution, or, on the Application of the Legislatures of two thirds of the several States, shall call a Convention for proposing Amendments.
Article IV
The Constitution, federal laws made pursuant to it, and treaties made under its authority, constitute the supreme law of the land.
Articles of Confederation
Served as the written document that established the functions of the national government of the United States after it declared independence from Great Britain.
Benjamin Franklin
Helped draw up the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution and played a major role in the American Revolution and negotiated French support for the colonists.
Bill of Rights
The first ten amendments to the US 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.
Common Sense
Challenged the authority of the British government and the royal monarchy. The plain language that Paine used spoke to the common people of America and was the first work to openly ask for independence from Great Britain.
Constitution
A body of fundamental principles or established precedents according to which a state or other organization is acknowledged to be governed.
Constitutional Convention
The gathering that drafted the Constitution of the United States in 1787; all states were invited to send delegates.
Crispus Attucks
American stevedore of African and Native American descent, widely regarded as the first person killed in the Boston massacre and thus the first American killed in the American Revolution.
Critical Period
Periods when a major, lasting shift occurs in the popular coalition supporting one or both parties. split ticket. voting for candidates of different parties for various officies in the same election.
Declaration of Independence
The formal statement written by Thomas Jefferson declaring the freedom of the thirteen American colonies from Great Britain.
Electoral College
A body of people representing the states of the US, who formally cast votes for the election of the president and vice president.
Enumerated Powers
The powers of the federal government that describe how a central government with three distinct branches can operate.
Federalism
A system of government in which a written constitution divides power between a central government and regional or sub-divisional governments.
Federalists
A person who advocates or supports a system of government in which several states unite under a central authority.
The Federalist Papers
A series of eighty-five essays written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay in the late 1780s to persuade the voters of New York to adopt the Constitution.
First Continental Congress
A meeting of delegates from twelve of the Thirteen Colonies who met from September 5 to October 26, 1774, at Carpenters’ Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, early in the American Revolution.
French and Indian War
A series of military engagements between Britain and France in North America between 1754 and 1763
Full faith and Credit clause
Addresses the duties that states within the United States have to respect the “public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other state.
George Washington
1st President of the United States; commander-in-chief of the Continental Army during the American Revolution
Great Compromise
Called for proportional representation in the House, and one representative per state in the Senate (this was later changed to two.)
Implied Powers
Powers of U.S. government which have not been explicitly granted by the Constitution but that is implied by the necessary and proper clause to be delegated for the purpose of carrying out the enumerated powers.
Inherent Powers
Powers that Congress and the president need in order to get the job done right. Although not specified in the Constitution, they are reasonable powers that are a logical part of the powers delegated to Congress and the president.
James Madison
Member of the Continental Congress and a leader in the drafting of the Constitution, contributed several essays to The Federalist Papers.
John Jay
One of the Founding Fathers of the United States, negotiator and signatory of the Treaty of Paris of 1783
Lexington and Concord
The first battle of the Revolutionary War, fought in Massachusetts on April 19, 1775. British troops had moved from Boston toward Lexington and Concord to seize the colonists’ military supplies and arrest revolutionaries.
Mercantilism
Belief in the benefits of profitable trading
Montesquieu
French political philosopher who advocated the separation of executive and legislative and judicial powers
Necessary and Proper Clause
A section of the United States Constitution that enables Congress to make the laws required for the exercise of its other powers established by the Constitution.
New Jersey Plan
A proposal for the structure of the United States Government presented by William Paterson at the Constitutional Convention on June 15, 1787.
New World
Name used to describe the Americas
Political Culture
A set of attitudes and practices held by a people that shapes their political behavior. It includes moral judgments, political myths, beliefs, and ideas about what makes for a good society.
Samuel Adams
American Revolutionary leader and patriot; an organizer of the Boston Tea Party and signer of the Declaration of Independence
Second Continental Congress
A convention of delegates from the Thirteen Colonies that started meeting in the spring of 1775 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Separation of powers
An act of vesting the legislative, executive, and judicial powers of government in separate bodies.
Shays Rebellion
A rebellion among farmers in Massachusetts that began in 1786.
Social Contract Theory
A persons’ moral and/or political obligations are dependent upon a contract or agreement among them to form the society in which they live.
Sons and Daughters of Liberty
Formed in response to the Stamp Act, their activities were far more than ceremonial
Stamp Act Congress
First colonial action against a British measure and was formed to protest the Stamp Act issued by British Parliament on March 1765.
Supremacy clause
All laws made furthering the Constitution and all treaties made under the authority of the United States are the “supreme law of the land.”
Thomas Jefferson
Draftsman of the U.S. Declaration of Independence; the nation’s first secretary of state (1789-94); second vice president (1797-1801); and, as the third president (1801-09), the statesman responsible for the Louisiana Purchase
Thomas Paine
American Revolutionary leader and pamphleteer (born in England) who supported the American colonist’s fight for independence and supported the French Revolution
Three-Fifths Compromise
The population of slaves would be counted as three-fifths in total when apportioning Representatives, as well as Presidential electors and taxes
Virginia Plan
Proposed a strong central government composed of three branches: legislative, executive, and judicial.
