Term | Definition |
Wilderness Road | The Wilderness Road was the principal route used by settlers for more than fifty years to reach Kentucky from the East. |
Republic | a state in which supreme power is held by the people and their elected representatives, and which has an elected or nominated president rather than a monarch. |
Articles of Confederation | the original constitution of the US, ratified in 1781, which was replaced by the US Constitution in 1789. |
Land Ordinance of 1785 | Congress did not have the power to raise revenue by direct taxation of the inhabitants of the United States. |
Northwest Territory | was an organized incorporated territory of the United States. Wikipedia |
Northwest Ordinance | A law passed in 1787 to regulate the settlement of the Northwest Territory, which eventually was divided into several states of the Middle West. |
Shays's Rebellion | An uprising led by a former militia officer, Daniel Shays, which broke out in western Massachusetts in 1786. |
Constitutional Convention | a gathering for the purpose of writing a new constitution or revising an existing constitution. |
James Madison | an American statesman, political theorist and the fourth President of the United States. |
Virginia Plan | a proposal by Virginia delegates for a bicameral legislative branch. |
New Jersey Plan | a proposal for the structure of the United States Government presented by William Paterson at the Constitutional Convention on June 15, 1787. |
Great Compromise | an agreement that large and small states reached during the Constitutional Convention of 1787 that in part defined the legislative structure and representation that each state would have under the United States Constitution. |
Three-Fifths Compromise | a compromise reached between delegates from southern states and those from northern states during the 1787 United States Constitutional Convention. |
Federalism | a system of government in which sovereignty is constitutionally divided between a central governing authority and constituent political units (such as states or provinces). |
Federalists | an advocate or supporter of federalism. |
AntiFederalists | an opponent of federalism. |
The Federalists Paper | The Federalist is a collection of 85 articles and essays written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay promoting the ratification of the United States Constitution. |
George Mason | George Mason IV was an American Patriot, statesman and a delegate from Virginia to the U.S. Constitutional Convention. |
Bill of Rights | the first ten amendments to the US Constitution, ratified in 1791 and guaranteeing such rights as the freedoms of speech, assembly, and worship. |