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Unit 4 Vocabulary
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Articles of Confederation | The first official government of the United States written and ratified during the American Revolution |
| Articles of Confederation | US government that failed because it lacked a strong central gov't, the states were too powerful |
| Articles of Confederation | Us government that only had a legislative branch and Congress could not tax |
| Northwest Ordinance | Law passed in 1787 that determined how a territory could become a state, also banned slavery in the Northwest Territory |
| Land Ordinance | Law that organized land in the Northwest Territory and auctioned off land to pay for the national debt |
| State of Franklin | Lost state located in East Tennessee that applied to be the 14th state but was denied |
| Northwest Territory | north of the Ohio River valley where slave was banned; Ohio,Illinois, Indiana,Michigan and Wisconsin would be here |
| Shays Rebellion | revolt of farmers in Massachusetts over unfair taxes; showed that the Articles of Confederation could not keep law and order |
| James Madison | Father of the Constitution; presented the Virginia plan at the Constitutional Convention; took notes and explained major principles of the Constitution |
| George Washington | Elected the chairman of the Constitutional Convention |
| George Washington | Unanimously elected first president, only served two terms, set examples for future presidents to follow |
| Constitutional Convention | meeting of 55 delegates to revise the Articles of Confederation but drafted the Constitutional in Summer of 1787 |
| Constitution | US government that strengthened the power of federal government while also sharing power with the states |
| Great Compromise | agreement made over how larger and smaller states would be represented at the Constitutional Convention |
| Great Compromise | Agreement that established the Senate and House of Representatives in Congress |
| Bicameral | word that means "two house" legislature |
| Three-Fifths Compromise | agreement at the constitutional convention over how the southern states would count slaves for representation |
| Preamble | The opening paragraph of the Constitution, states the purpose of the Constitution |
| Preamble | Begins with the phrase "We the people" |
| Bill of right | The first ten amendments to the Constitution |
| Bill of right | Part of the Constitution that protects individual rights and liberties |
| Separation of powers | ideas that the power of government are divided among three branches- legislative,executive and judicial |
| Veto | the ability of the president to reject a bill passed by Congress |
| Override | the ability of Congress to pass a bill that the president has voted |
| Legislative | branch of government that writes the law |
| Executive | branch of government that enforce the laws |
| Judicial | branch of government that applies or interprets the law |
| Senate | Upper house of Congress where each state has an equal number of representatives |
| House of Representative | lower house of the Congress where the number of representatives per state is based on that state's population |
| Checks and balances | the ability of each branch of government to control the other two; keeps any one branch from becoming too powerful |
| Federalism | idea that power is shared between a central government and state governments |
| First Amendment | Freedom of religion,speech,press,petition and assembly |
| Second Amendment | right to bear arms |
| Third Amendment | right to not house and feed US soldiers in you house |
| Fourth Amendment | Protection from unwarranted searches and seizures from the government |
| Tenth Amendment | Says that powers not given to the federal government are reserved to the states |
| Ratification | the process of approving a constitution or amendment |
| Federalist | Group that wanted the Constitution to be ratified |
| Antifederalists | Group that opposed ratification of the Constitution |
| Antifederalists | Group that feared the Constitution would turn into a monarchy |
| Antifederalists | Their biggest contribution to American history is that they demanded a bill of rights to the Constitution |
| Federalist Papers | Series of essays written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay to Convince Americans to ratify the Constitution |