Unit 1B Vocab

Question 1

Constitution

Answer 1

A document that sets out the fundamental principles of government and establishes the institutions of government

Question 2

Republic

Answer 2

A government ruled by representatives of the people

Question 3

Articles of Confederation

Answer 3

The first constitution of the U.S that created a union of thirteen sovereign states in which the states, not the national government, were supreme. It was drafted in 1777, ratified in 1781 and replaced by the Constitution in 1789

Question 4

Unicameral

Answer 4

A one-house legislature

Question 5

Shay’s Rebellion

Answer 5

A popular uprising against the government of Massachusetts. It highlighted the need for a strong national government just as the call for the Constitutional Convention went out

Question 6

Constitutional Convention

Answer 6

A meeting attended by state delegates in Philadelphia , May 25 to September 17, 1787, to fix the Articles of Confederation

Question 7

Virginia Plan

Answer 7

A plan of government calling for three-branch government with bicameral legislature, when more populous states would have more representation in Congress

Question 8

New Jersey Plan

Answer 8

A plan of government that provided for a unicameral legislature with equal votes for each state

Question 9

Grand Committee

Answer 9

Committee organized at the Constitutional Convention that worked out the compromise on representation in the national legislature

Question 10

Connecticut (Great) Compromise

Answer 10

Compromise that settled issues of state representation by calling for a bicameral legislature with a House of Representatives (lower house) apportioned by population and a Senate (upper house) apportioned equally (in which each state would have two Senators)

Question 11

Bicameralism

Answer 11

The principle of a two-house legislature

Question 12

Three-fifths Compromise

Answer 12

Compromise between northern and southern states at the Constitutional Convention that a slave would count as three-fifths of a person in calculating a state’s representation and determining taxation

Question 13

Slave Trade Compromise

Answer 13

Congress could not restrict the slave trade until 1808

Question 14

Separation of Powers

Answer 14

A design of government that distributes powers across institution (legislative, executive, and judicial branches) in order to avoid making one branch too power on its own

Question 15

Checks and Balances

Answer 15

A design of government in which each branch has power that can prevent the other branches from making policy and therefore ensure that no one branch can dominate

Question 16

Federalism

Answer 16

The sharing of power between the national (aka central or federal or U.S) government and the states

Question 17

Legislative Branch

Answer 17

The institution responsible for making laws

Question 18

Executive Branch

Answer 18

The institution responsible for carry out laws passed by the Legislative branch

Question 19

Judicial Branch

Answer 19

The institution responsible for hearing and deciding cases through the federal courts

Question 20

Amendment

Answer 20

Process by which change may be made to the Constitution (laid out out in Article V)

Question 21

Federalists

Answer 21

Supporters of ratification of the Constitution and of a strong central government

Question 22

Anti-Federalists

Answer 22

Opponents of ratification of the Constitution, who favored stronger state government

Question 23

The Federalist Papers

Answer 23

A series of 85 essays promoting ratification of the Constitution, published anonymously by Alexander Hamilton, John Lay, and James Madison in 1787 and 1788

Question 24

Federalist No. 51

Answer 24

An essay in which Madison argues that separation of powers and federalism will prevent tyranny

Question 25

Faction

Answer 25

A group of self-interested people (usually united by a particular common political purpose) who use the government to get what they want, trampling the rights of others in the process

Question 26

Federalist No. 10

Answer 26

An essay in which James Madison agrues that a large republic and republican government can mitigate the dangers of a faction

Question 27

Brutus No. 1

Answer 27

An Anti-Federalists paper (against the ratification of the Constitution); arguing that the country was too large to be governed as a republic and that the Constitution gave too much power to the national government

Question 28

Electoral College

Answer 28

The electoral system used in electing the president and vice president, in which voters vote for electors pledge to cast their ballots for a particular party’s candidate