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AP US History
Chapter 8 Building a Republic
| Glossary Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| The Federalist, number 10 | James Madison’s revolutionary argument that republican government did not have to be small-scale but would in fact benefit from a large and diverse population |
| Three-fifths clause | The agreement that settled the issue of what constituted the population for the purposes of representation, specifically whether slaves counted as property of as people. |
| Antifederalists | Opposed the Constitution. Feared the new govt would be corrupt. Objected the Constitution’s lack of a bill of rights. From rural areas, had suspicion of eastern elites. Strong in states like New York with a strong economy that could remain independent. |
| Federalists | Supporters of the Constitution. They were opposed to the confederation concept. They had positive Revolutionary-era associations and forced the supporters’ opponents to take on a negative-sounding designation. |
| The Great Compromise | This broke the logjam over whether representation be apportioned by population or given equally to each state, regardless of size. This based the number of delegates to the House of Representatives on pop. and gave each state two delegates in the Senate. |
| New Jersey Plan | The central government suggested by delegates from the smaller states of New Jersey, Connecticut, Delaware and New Hampshire. This plan called for a plural presidency and a stronger national Congress in which each state would have one vote. |
| Virginia Plan | James Madison’s plan for a new central government. It repudiated the principle of a confederation of states and set out a three-branch government with the power to veto state legislation and coerce states militarily to obey national laws. |
| Second Continental Congress | A body of representatives appointed by the legislatures of several colonies which met from 1775 to 1781. That Congress had provided that they would meet to plan further responses if the British government had not repealed or modified the Intolerable Acts. |
| Liberty | This term refers to the possession of certain social, political or economic rights such as the right to own property. These were spelled out in the state constitutions that were drawn up and based on “the authority of the people.” |
| Direct democracy | This is a form of democracy where sovereignty is available to all citizens who choose to participate. They can pass executive motions, make laws, elect and dismiss officials, conduct trials. This form of government promotes the people’s welfare. |
| Articles of Confederation | This was the first governing document of the US. It was adopted as binding the states in a loose confederation, a nation capable of making war, negotiating diplomatic agreements, and resolving issues regarding the western territories. |
| Emancipation | The act of freeing from slavery or bondage. This was a goal shared by slaves and abolitionists alike and occurred with the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment in 1865. |
| Hard money | Money coined directly from, or backed in full by, precious metals (particularly gold). |
| Republicanism | The belief that the unworkable model of European-style monarchy be replaced with a form of government where supreme power resides in the hands of citizens with the right to vote and is exercised by a representative government answerable to this electorate |
| Suffrage | The right to vote. This term is most often associated with the efforts of American women to secure voting rights. |
| George Mason | He was a United States patriot, statesman, and delegate from Virginia to the U.S. Constitutional Convention. He is called the "Father of the Bill of Rights." |
| Checks and Balances | Under this model the state is divided into branches, and each branch of the state has separate and independent powers and areas of responsibility. Each branch is also able to place specified restraints on the powers exerted by the other branches. |
| Northwest Ordinance | This document was an act of the Continental Congress of the US. The effect was the creation of the Northwest Territory as the first organized territory of the United States out of the region south of the Great Lakes, north and west of the Ohio River, |
| Shay’s Rebellion | An armed uprising in western Massachusetts from 1786 to 1787 by rebels, led by Daniel Shays, known as Shaysites (or "Regulators"), who were mostly small farmers angered by crushing debt and taxes. |
| Artisans | A skilled manual worker who uses tools and machinery in a particular craft. They were the dominant producers of goods before the Industrial Revolution |
| States’ Rights | A strict interpretation of the Constitution that holds that federal power over states is limited and states hold ultimate sovereignty. |
| Popular sovereignty | Where people hold the final authority in government. |
| The United States Constitution | The supreme law of the United States of America. It was adopted in its original form on September 17, 1787 by the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and later ratified by state-selected delegates representing the people of the several |
| Bill of Rights | The commonly used term for the first ten amendments to the U.S Constitution. This document guarantees individual liberties and defines limitations to federal power. |