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Unit 5 Vocabulary
Vocabulary from the guided reading pages.
Term | Definition |
---|---|
Bill of Rights | First 10 Constitutional amendments that protect the rights of citizens; guarantee individual rights |
Antifederalists | people who opposed the Constitution |
Federalists | people who supported the Constitution |
Amendment | official change to a document |
Constitution | a written plan of government; basic set of principles that states the powers and duties of government |
Suffrage | the right to vote |
Articles of Confederation | the first written plan of government (constitution) for the United States; written during the American Revolution |
Ratify | to approve |
Tariff | a tax on imported or exported goods |
Interstate commerce | trade between two or more states |
Shay's Rebellion | an uprising in which hundreds of men tried to force a shutdown of the courts to prevent their land from being taken; displayed weaknesses in the Articles of Confederation |
Constitutional Convention | meeting held in Philadelphia, PA to fix the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation |
James Madison | convention delegate; known as the "Father of the Constitution" |
Virginia Plan | plan that proposed a bicameral (two-house) legislature |
New Jersey Plan | plan proposing a unicameral legislature |
Great Compromise | created a two branch legislature: Congress consisting of the House of Representatives and the Senate |
Three-fifths Compromise | allowed each state to count 3/5 of its slave population to add the number of representatives it would receive in the House of Representatives |
popular sovereignty | the idea that political power comes from the people; consent of the governed |
Federalism | the sharing of power between a central government and the states; the central government is supreme |
Legislative branch | the branch of government that makes laws; Congress |
Executive branch | enforces the laws; the president, vice president and cabinet |
Judicial branch | the branch of government that interprets the laws; federal court system, Supreme Court |
Checks and Balances | a system that keeps any branch of government from becoming too powerful |