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| 96630211 | Constitution | (1787) Document which established the organization, function and powers of the government and is considered the "Supreme Law of the Land." It followed the Articles of Confederation and was drafted at the Constitutional Convention in 1787. The government created reflected the influence of British, Roman, Greek, and colonial state governments, as well as many ideas from the Enlightenment. | 0 | |
| 96630212 | Supremacy Clause | Clause of the Constitution which stated that the laws made in pursuance of the Constitution under the authority of the United States shall preside over others and shall be the supreme law of the US as stated in Article VI of the Constitution. | 1 | |
| 96630213 | Checks and Balances | limits the powers of each of the 3 branches, the Executive, Judicial, and Legislative so one will not become too powerful. This is important because the Americans wanted to prevent the absolute rule of a king. This principle is based on Montesquieu's Enlightenment ideas. | 2 | |
| 96630214 | Separation of Powers | basic principle of the Constitution that divides the government into three branches; the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial. Each branch holds certain responsibilities and checks the powers of the other branches; works in conjunction with Montesqueiu's ideas on separation of powers. | 3 | |
| 96630215 | Land Ordinance of 1787 | passed under the Articles of Confederation, this law set up a government in the region north of the Ohio River. If a territory reached a population of 60,000 or more they could apply for statehood. It prohibited enslavement of anyone born into the territory. This was the most significant accomplishment of the Articles of Confederation and was carried over into the drafting of the Constitution. | 4 | |
| 96630216 | Northwest Ordinance | (1787) created the Northwest Territory, enabling the US to expand to the Great Lakes area. The states created included Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin. Another success of the Articles of Confederation because it further defined the steps required for admission of a state into the Union. | 5 | |
| 96630217 | Shays' Rebellion | (1786) An armed revolt in Massachusetts, led by Daniel Shays and fellow farmers in protest against economic policies and foreclosures of farms for failure to pay taxes passed by the Massachusetts state government. Contributed to the fall of the Articles of Confederation because the event highlighted the weaknesses of the central government. | 6 | |
| 96630218 | Annapolis Convention | (1786) convention called to discuss a uniform regulation of commerce, it served as a precursor to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787. The main achievement was the decision to summon a new meeting for the purpose of amending the Articles of Confederation to make the Union more powerful, as highlighted by the events in Shays' Rebellion. | 7 | |
| 96630219 | Constitutional Convention | an assembly of 55 delegates from every state but Rhode Island, which met in Philadelphia in 1787 initally to amend the Articles of Confederation, but instead they developed a new system of government.. On August 6, 1787, Congress accepted the first draft of the Constitution. It is significant to American History because it would develop a successful system of government, which is still in effect today. | 8 | |
| 96630220 | Great Compromise | A compromise made at the Constitutional Convention, which combined the New Jersey Plan and the Virginia Plan. It allowed for a bicameral legislature, which contained the House of Representatives and the Senate. The House of Representatives bases representation on a states population as totaled in the census, and in the Senate each state gets equal representation( 2 per state). | 9 | |
| 96630221 | North-South Compromise | Contained a series of compromises between the North and the South at the Constitutional Convention. It was necessary due to the differences in the northern manufacturing states and the southern agricultural states. It contained the 3/5 Compromise, allowing 3 of every 5 slaves to count towards a state's population total for representation in the House and for taxation totals. The Commerce Compromise allowed a tax on imports, not exports, while agreeing to stop the slave trade in 1808,and it also required states to return runaway slaves. | 10 | |
| 96630222 | Anti-Federalists | Those who opposed the ratification of the Constitution. They supported a Bill of Rights and argued that the proposed Constitution gave excessive power to the federal government. It was led by George Clinton, George Mason, Patrick Henry, Elbridge Gerry. | 11 | |
| 96630223 | Federalists | Those who supported the ratification of the Constitution. They believed in a strong central government, public credit, the promotion of commerce and industry. Members of this faction drafted the Federalist Papers to promote the reasons why the Constitution should be ratified. They were led by Hamilton, Madison, and Jay. | 12 | |
| 96630224 | Judiciary | The branch of government containing to the courts. It has the authority to interpret and apply the law. It is also responsible for protecting individuals against arbitrary acts of either the Legislative or Executive branches of government, as well as having the power of judicial review. | 13 | |
| 96630225 | Judiciary Act of 1789 | The establishment of the first federal court system by Congress. It stated that the Judicial branch should be composed of one Supreme Court and many inferior courts such as district and circuit courts. It established that there will be six members of the Supreme Court, there will be thirteen district courts, the Supreme Court can settle disputes between states, and the idea that a decision by the Supreme Court is final. This was the first law declared unconstitutional in the case of Marbury v. Madison. | 14 | |
| 96630226 | Hamilton's Program | Secreatry of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton created a plan for the U.S. economy . Some of his beliefs were that the U.S. government should encourage manufacturing, assume responsibility for the country's debts, standardize and control the currency system through a national bank, and, maintain friendly ties with Britain in order to keep peace. Disputes over the constitutionality of part of the program led to the formation of the first political parties in the United States. | 15 | |
| 96630227 | Tariff of 1789 | - A tariff designed to raise revenues for the new United States government by placing a tariff on the importation of foreign goods and encouraging domestic production in such industries as glass and pottery by taxing the importation of those products from foreign sources. | 16 | |
| 96630228 | Excise Tax | An internal tax meant specifically for transactions within the United States. Federal excises in the U.S. are levied primarily on alcoholic beverages, tobacco, and motor fuel. It raised revenue for the United States government. This tax, which was part of Hamilton's financial plan, sparked the Whiskey Rebellion. | 17 | |
| 96630229 | Elastic Clause | Article I, Section VIII of the Constitution. It states that Congress shall have the power to make laws that are "necessary and proper". It created much debate and is the basis for much of the loose constructionist's ideology utilized in the creation of the National Bank and the Louisiana Purchase. | 18 | |
| 96630230 | Loose interpretation | The idea that a flexible view of the power of the Constitution should be held. Federalists, such as Alexander Hamilton and John Adams, held this idea. They believed that a rigid interpretation that prevents the natural growth of the democratic institutions. Alexander Hamilton used this idea to establish a National Bank. | 19 | |
| 96630231 | Strict interpretation | The idea that that the federal government has no rights or powers not expressly written in the Constitution. This idea was mainly held by Democratic-Republicans such as Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. They used this belief to argue the unconstitutionality of creations such as Alexander Hamilton's National Bank. | 20 | |
| 96630232 | Whiskey Rebellion | A rebellion in 1794 by the people of western Pennsylvania in reaction to the Excise Tax on distilled liquors passed in 1791. Farmers considered the tax to be a burden and in violation of their rights. President George Washington called in the militia to end the rebellion. This event flaunted the power of the federal government and proved that a rebellion about taxation will not be tolerated and that the Executive branch had the power to enforce federal law. | 21 | |
| 96630233 | Federalists | One of the first two political parties in American history, it formed opposite the Democratic - Republican Party. The party dominated the federal government until its defeat in the presidential election of 1800. The support of this party came from the commercial northeast and they advocated for a strong central government where most power assigned to the federal government, supported manufacturing and loose interpretation of the Constitution. | 22 | |
| 96630234 | Democratic Republicans | One of the first two political parties in American history, it formed opposite the Federalists. They advocated for an agrarian society, a weak national government, with most power assigned to the states, and strict interpretation of the Constitution. | 23 | |
| 96630235 | Alien and Sedition Acts | In 1798 when the relations between the United States and the French were tentative, the Federalist Party secured passage of acts in Congress directed against subversive activities of foreigners in the United States (Alien Act). This legislation brought out controversial restrictions on freedom of speech and of the press because of the attempts to silence critics of the government (Sedition Act). | 24 | |
| 96630236 | Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions | In 1798 legislatures of Kentucky and Virginia adopted resolutions opposing the Alien and Sedition Acts. The Democratic- Republicans viewed these acts as a denial of individual liberty. Thomas Jefferson drafted the resolutions adopted in Kentucky, and James Madison had authored the set adopted in Virginia. Together these resolutions announce the Doctrine of Nullification. | 25 | |
| 96630237 | Doctrine of Nullification | A doctrine expounded by the advocates of extreme states' rights in the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions.. It held that states have the right to declare null and void any federal law that they deem unconstitutional. The doctrine was based on the theory that the Union is a voluntary compact of states and that the federal government has no right to exercise powers not specifically assigned to it by the U.S. Constitution. | 26 |
