Life in a New Nation
Terms
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- Articles of Confederation
- First plan of government for the United States, in effect from 1781 to 1789. It gave more power to the states then to the central government.
- ratify
- To officially aprove.
- legislative branch
- Part of the government that passes laws.
- executive branch
- Part of the government, headed by the president, that carries out the laws.
- judicial branch
- Part of the government that decides the meaning of laws.
- inflation
- Economic condition in which prices rise very quickly.
- Shays' Rebellion
- Revolt of Massachusetts farmers against high state taxes, led by Daniel Shays.
- Northwest Ordinance of 1787
- Federal order that divided the Northwest Territory into smaller territories and created a plan for how the territories could become states.
- delegate
- Person chosen to represent others.
- Constitutional Convention
- Meeting of delegates who met in Philadelphia,Pennsylvania, in 1787 and replaced the Articles of Confederation with the Constitution.
- Virginia Plan
- Proposal during the Constitutional Convention that Congress be given greater power over the states and that large states have more representatives in Congress then small states.
- New Jersey Plan
- Prosal during the Constitutional Convention that each state should have the same number of representatives in Congress.
- compromise
- Settlement of a disagreement in which each side agrees to give up part of it's demands.
- Great Compromise
- Agreement at the Constitutional Convention to create a Congress with two houses. First proposed by Roger Sherman of Connecticut.
- Three-Fiths Compromise
- Agreement made at the Constitutional Convention that only three-fiths of the slaves in a state would be counted for representation and tax purposes.
- Preamble
- Introduction to the Constitution, beginning, "We the People of the United States...".
- reserved powers
- Powers in the Constitution that are left to the individual states.
- separation of powers
- Division of power among the three branches of the federal government under the Constitution.
- checks and balances
- System set up by the Constitution that gives each branch of government the power to check, or limit, the powers of the other branches.
- veto
- Power of the President to reject a bill passed by Congress.
- Federalist
- Supporter of a strong natural government and in favor of adopting of the Constitution.
- federal
- Refers to the national government.
- Antifederalists
- Person opposed to the new U.S. Constitution and it's emphasis on a strong national government.
- The Federalist
- Series of essays in 1787 and 1788 by James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay that urged support of the new Constititution.
- amendment
- A change, or addition, to the Constitution.
- Bill of Rights
- First ten amendments to the Constitution, ratified in 1791.