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Constitution
Vocab and People
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Preamble | Introduction to the Constitution |
| Convention | meeting |
| Bicameral | 2 house legislature; Congress has the Senate and the House of Representatives |
| Republic | a form of government in which the people select representatives to govern them and make laws |
| Compromise | a settlement in which each side gives up some of its demands in order to reach an agreement |
| Veto | to reject |
| Execute (as, a power) | branch of government that enforces the laws |
| Electoral college | representatives of each state who cast the final ballots that actually elects a president |
| Elastic clause | a clause that allows Congress to stretch the use of its powers to create laws that are necessary and proper |
| Article | one of several main parts of the Constitution |
| Constitutional Convention | Convention that met in Philadelphia in 1787 and drafted the Constitution of the US |
| George Washington | president of the Constitutional Convention |
| George Mason | leader of the anti-federalists who opposed the ratification of the Constitution |
| James Madison | father of the Constitution; leading federalist; author of the Bill of Rights |
| Charles de Montesquieu | French Enlightenment thinker; believed separation of powers and having 3 branches of government |
| John Locke | British Enlightenment thinker; stated that it was government's duty to protect life, liberty, and property |
| William Blackstone | British judge and jurist (legal expert); philosopher that created the idea of checks and balances and this principle is reflected in our Constitution |