Unit 2 Test: Constitution Flashcards
What are the 3 weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation
- Measures passed by Congress had to be approved by 9 of the 13 states
- Congress couldn’t collect money via taxes; relied on states’s obedience, and couldn’t force them to do anything
- The articles were very hard to change because changes required a unanimous vote.
What’s are the 2 strengths of the articles
- was made of delegates chosen by the states, and they could conduct foreign affairs, make treaties, declare war, maintain an army and a navy, coin money
- kept country together
What is the articles of confederation
the first constitution of the USA
when was the articles of confederation passed and by who
in 1777 by the same continental congress that passed the declaration of independence
what are the states fear in creating a national government, and how does to address this fear
that their needs would be ignored by a too strong government, and it would create an abuse of power. The articles addressed this by giving a lot of power to states.
what’s the land ordinance of 1785
land will be surveyed, and divided into six square mile grid. each township was split into 36 sections of one square mile each, and 16th was for school. resulted in orderly settlement of north west.
what’s the northwest ordinance of 1787
when congress created a procedure for admission of new states into the Union
how many people have to live in a territory to become a state
60,000
what was forbidden in the territories of the Old Northwest
slavery
what’s the philadelphia convention
when state representatives decided to meet in 1787 to create a new government rather than fix articles.
what are the 6 key figures of the philadelphia convention
george washington, james madison, alexander hamilton, ben franklin, george mason, roger sherman
what’s the virginia plan
to base representation in congress on each states population. it was favoured by states with large populations
what’s the new jersey plan
representation is equal for all states. was favoured by states with small populations
what’s the great compromise
when they decided to allocate two people to the senate for each state, and house representatives based on population.
what’s the 3/5 compromise
when they counted slaves as 3/5 of a person for population counting.
what’s federal law
national laws that are the supreme law of the land. states have power but can’t contradict federal law. limits the power of the government to those in the constitution.
what’s checks and balances
avoids a power central government by creating three branches: legislative, executive and judicial
what does the legislative branch do
make laws
what does the executive branch do
enforce laws
what does the judicial branch do
interpret laws
what can the legislative branch do to check judicial branch
impeach and approve judges
what can the legislative branch do to check the executive branch
override veto, impeach president
how can the executive branch check the judicial branch
appoint federal judges
how can the executive branch check the legislative branch
veto legislation, call congress back
