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Unit 4 Vocab
Term | Definition |
---|---|
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 strong central gov't, the states were to powerful |
Articles of Confederation | Us government that only had a legislative branch and congress that could not tax |
Northwest Ordinance | Law that organized land in the Northwest Territory and auctioned off land to pay for the national debt |
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 the East Tennessee that applied to be the 14th state but was denied |
Northwest Territory | north of the Ohio River Valley where slaves was banned; Ohio, Illinois , Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin would be there |
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 Constitution in Summer of 1787 |
Constitution | US government that strengthened the power of the 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 Representative in Congress |
Bicameral | word that means "two house" legislature |
Three-Fifth Compromise | agreement at the constitution, states the purpose of the Constitution |
Preamble | the opening paragraph of the constitution, states the purpose of the constitution |
Preamble | begins with the phrase "We the People" |
Bill of Rights | the first ten amendments to the constitution |
Bill of Rights | part of the constitution that agreements to the constitution |
Separation of Powers | idea that the powers 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 the president to reject a bill passed by congress |
Legislative | branch of gov't that writes the laws |
Executive | branch of government that enforces the law |
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 Representatives | lower house of congress where the number of representatives per state is based on the population |
Checks and Balance | the ability of each branch of government to control the other two; keeps any one branch from becoming powerful |
Federalism | idea that power is shared between a central government and state government |
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 your home |
Fourth Amendment | protection from unwarranted searches and seizes 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 |
Federalists | group that wanted the Constitution to be ratified |
Anti federalists | group that opposed ratification of the Constitution |
Anti federalists | group that feared the Constitution would turn into a monarchy |
Anti federalists | 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 |