Viocab #2 Flashcards
Bill of attainder
when the legislature declares someone guilty without a trial.
ex post facto laws
laws punishing people for acts that were not crimes at the time they were committed.
Virginia Plan
a plan of government calling for a three-branch government with a bicameral legislature, where more populous states would have more representation in Congress.
New Jersey Plan
a plan of government that provided for a unicameral legislature with equal votes for each states.
Grand Committee
a committee at the Constitutional Convention that worked out the compromise on representation.
Great (Connecticut) Compromise
an agreement for a plan of government that drew upon both the Virginia and New Jersey plans; it settled issues of state representation by calling for a bicameral legislature with a House of Representatives apportioned and a Senate apportioned equally.
Bicameral
a two-house legislature.
Three-Fifths Compromise
an agreement reached by delegates at the Constitutional Convention that a slave would count as three-fifths of a person in calculating a state’s representation.
Compromise of Importation
Congress could not restrict slave trade until 1808.
separation of powers
a design of government that distributes powers across institutions in order to avoid making one branch too powerful on its own.
checks and balances
a design of government in which each branch has powers that can prevent the other branches from making policy.
federalism
the sharing of power between the national government and the states.
expressed or enumerated powers
authority specifically granted to a branch of the government in the Constitution.
necessary and proper or elastic clause
language in Article I, Section 8, granting Congress the powers necessary to carry out its enumerated powers.
implied powers
authority of the federal government that goes beyond its expressed powers.
