From the American Pageant version 12
The Confederation and the Constitution
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| 278867551 | ratify | approve and express assent, responsibility, or obligation | 0 | |
| 278867552 | alien | a person who comes from a foreign country; someone who does not owe allegiance to your country | 1 | |
| 278867553 | township | A square normally 6 miles on a side. The Land Ordinance of 1785 divided much of the United States into a series of townships. | 2 | |
| 278867554 | annex | attach; add to a large thing; take possession of; incorporate (territory) into a larger existing political unit (by force) | 3 | |
| 278867555 | requisition | seizing property that belongs to someone else and holding it until profits pay the demand for which it was seized | 4 | |
| 278867556 | foreclosure | when a bank takes back a property and auctions it off to recover the unpaid loan amount | 5 | |
| 278867557 | quorum | a gathering of the minimal number of members of an organization to conduct business | 6 | |
| 278867558 | anarchy | a state of lawlessness and disorder (usually resulting from a failure of government) | 7 | |
| 278867559 | plurality | in an election, the number of votes that the leading candidate obtains over the next highest candidate | 8 | |
| 278867560 | bicameral | composed of two legislative bodies | 9 | |
| 278867561 | Abigail Adams | Wife of John Adams. During the Revolutionary War, she wrote letters to her husband describing life on the home front. She urged her husband to remember America's women in the new government he was helping to create. | 10 | |
| 278867562 | Daniel Shays | a leader in a rebellion against the state of Massachusetts due to the amount of discontent of farmers that lost their land due to mortgage foreclosures and tax delinquencies during the war while they were off fighting. The rebellion, though put down by the state militia, signaled the need for a stronger central government. | 11 | |
| 278867563 | Alexander Hamilton | (1797-1801) federalist *America's first Vice-President and second President. Sponsor of the American Revolution in Massachusetts, and wrote the Massachusetts guarantee that freedom of press "ought not to be restrained." | 12 | |
| 278867564 | James Madison | (1809-1817) democratic-republican, *4th President of the United States. member of the Continental Congress and rapporteur at the Constitutional Convention in 1776; helped frame the Bill of Rights | 13 | |
| 278867565 | mobocracy | Lawless control of public affairs by the mob or populace. | 14 | |
| 278867566 | sovereignty | ability of a state to govern its territory free from control of its internal affairs by other states | 15 | |
| 278867567 | popular sovereignty | The concept that political power rests with the people who can create, alter, and abolish government. People express themselves through voting and free participation in government | 16 | |
| 278867568 | federation | the act of constituting a political unity out of a number of separate states or colonies or provinces so that each member retains the management of its internal affairs | 17 | |
| 278867569 | consent of the governed | agreement by the people of a nation to subject themselves to the authority to a government. Natural rights philosophers, such as John Locke, believe that any legitimate government must draw its authority from the consent of the governed. | 18 | |
| 278867570 | confederation | a political system in which a weak central government has limited authority, and the states have ultimate power. | 19 | |
| 278867571 | check and balances | the ability of each branch of govt. to exercise check on the other | 20 | |
| 278867572 | republicanism | A philosophy of limited government with elected representatives serving at the will of the people. The government is based on consent of the governed. | 21 | |
| 278867573 | states' rights | the right of states to limit the power of the federal government | 22 | |
| 278867574 | Society of the Cincinnati | A society established by former officers of the Revolutionary war as a sort of aristocracy in which traditionalism and social status was important. Thomas Jefferson and other civilians thought that this movement threatened the newly formed republic and feared it could turn into an aristocracy so they worked to disband it. This was showed that nothing would stand in the way of a democratic government. This was crucial as this is the point when most revolutions fail, but the determination from Jefferson ceased this early threat. | 23 | |
| 278867575 | 3/5 Compromise | the decision at the Constitutional convention to count slaves as 3/5 of a person for the purpose of deciding the population and determining how many seats each state would have in Congress | 24 | |
| 278867576 | Large-state Plan | aka VA Plan; plan to set up a bicameral congress based on POPULATION; gives LARGE STATES the advantage | 25 | |
| 278867577 | Great Compromise | the agreement by which Congress would have two houses, the Senate (where each state gets equal representation-two senators [New Jersey Plan]) and the House of Representatives (where representation is based on population [Virginia Plan]). | 26 | |
| 278867578 | Northwest Ordinance of 1787 | Enacted in 1787, it is considered one of the most significant achievements of the Articles of Confederation. It established a system for setting up governments in the WESTERN territories so they could eventually join the Union on an equal footing with the original 13 states | 27 | |
| 278867579 | US Constitution | The document written in 1787 and ratified in 1788 that sets forth the institutional structure of the U.S. government and the tasks these institutions perform. It replaced the Articles of Confederation. | 28 | |
| 278867580 | Articles of Confederation | this document, the nations first constitution, was adopted by the second continental congress in 1781during the revolution. the document was limited because states held most of the power, and congress lacked the power to tax, regulate trade, or control coinage | 29 | |
| 278867581 | anti-federalists | opponents of a strong central government who campaigned against the ratification of the Constitution in favor of a confederation of independant states | 30 | |
| 278867582 | Federalists | Supporters of the Constitution that were led by Alexander Hamilton and John Adams. They firmly believed the national government should be strong. They didn't want the Bill of Rights because they felt citizens' rights were already well protected by the Constitution. | 31 | |
| 278867583 | Electoral College | group of persons chosen in each state and the district of columbia every four years who make a formal selection of the president and vice president | 32 | |
| 278867584 | Shays' Rebellion | this conflict in Massachusetts caused many to criticize the Articles of Confederation and admit the weak central government was not working; uprising led by Daniel Shays in an effort to prevent courts from foreclosing on the farms of those who could not pay the taxes | 33 | |
| 278867585 | Federalist Papers | a series of 85 essays written by Hamilton, Madison, and Jay (using the name "publius") published in NY newspapers that defended the Constitution and tried to reassure Americans that the states would not be overpowered by the federal government. | 34 | |
| 278867586 | Land Ordinance of 1785 | A law that divided much of the United States into a system of townships to facilitate the sale of land to settlers; a success of the Articles of Confederation | 35 | |
| 278867587 | small-state plan | Plan proposed by New Jersey for equal representation regardless of size or population. Unicameral. | 36 |
