Term | Definition |
Protected the rights of English citizens and became the basis for the American Bill of Rights. Influenced the writers of the U.S. Constitution. | English Bill of Rights |
The laws and principles of the government of the United States. | U.S. Constitution |
Voting rights | Suffrage |
Most power held by the states. One branch of government Legislative Branch had few powers. No executive branch. No judicial branch. No system of checks and balance. | Articles of the Confederation |
An official approval | Ratification |
Surveying and the division of public lands in the Northwest | Land Ordinance of 1785 |
A policy of establishing the principles and procedures for the orderly expansion of the United States. | Northwest Ordinance of 1787 |
Lands including present-day Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin; organized by the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 | Northwest Territory |
Farmers attacked courthouses and prevented the state from seizing the farms. Showed the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation. | Shays Rebellion |
The convention of United States statesmen who drafted the United States Constitution in 1787. | Constitional Convention |
The practice of allowing each territory to decide for itself whether or not to allow slavery. | Popular Sovereignty |
A system set up by the Constitution in which each branch of the federal government has the power to check, or control, the actions of the other. branches. | Checks and Balances |
The authority of a government should depend on the consent of the people, as expressed by votes in elections. | Consent of the Governed |
The sharing of power between the states and the national government | Federalism |
Is considered the Father of the Constitution | James Madison |
A series of essays written by James Madison, John Jay, and Alexander Hamilton, defending the Constitution and the principles on which the government of the United States was founded. | Federalist Papers |
People opposed to the Constitution, preferring more power to be given to the state governments than to the national government. | Anti-Federalists |
These were supporters of the Constitution who favored a strong national government. | Federalists |
The Supreme Court's power to declare acts of Congress unconstitutional. (interprets laws) | Judicial Branch |
The Division of the government that proposes bills and passes them into laws. | Legistlative Branch |
The division of the federal government that includes the president and the administrative departments; enforces the nation's laws. | Executive Branch |
Official change or addition to a law or constitution. | Amendment |
What are the first 10 amendments, added to the Constitution to ensure its ratification, called? | Bill of Rights |
The power to invalidate any law the Supreme Court deems unconstitutional. | Judicial Review |
The fair application of the law. | Due Process |
The process used by a legislative body to bring charges of wrongdoing against a public official. | Impeachment |
An idea or law that goes against the principals fo the U.S. Constitution. | Unconstitutional |