| A | B |
|---|
| Articles of Confederation | created a weak central gov't giving states too much power |
| U.S. Constitution | created a strong central gov't balancing power among the states and the federal gov't |
| Shays' Rebellion | this event proved the Articles of Confederation to be insufficient |
| Philadelphia Convention | the United Constitution was drafted |
| bicameral legislature | 2-house legislature |
| Great Compromise | dealt with the issue of representation in Congress |
| 3/5 Compromise | dealt with the issue of slavery |
| Ratification Debates | the Federalists and Anti-federalists debated the need of the U.S. Constitution |
| Federalist Papers | a collection of papers supporting the need of the U.S. Constitution |
| Preamble | the introduction to the Constitution stating that the people are the source of power |
| Federalism | the system of shared powers among the states and federal gov't |
| Checks and Balances | the system keeping one branch of gov't from becoming too powerful |
| Census | the population count taken every 10 years to determine representation in Congress |
| Electoral College | the official way in which the President and Vice-President are voted into office |
| Bill of Rights | amendments 1-10 protecting the rights of citizens |
| Reserved powers | powers of the state gov't |
| Delegated powers | powers of the federal gov't |
| Concurrent powers | powers shared among the state and federal gov't |
| Elastic Clause | Congress is given the power to make all laws "necessary and proper" |
| Judicial Review | the power of the Supreme Court to rule laws unconstitutional |
| Precedent | Examples set and traditions followed, for example, the 2-term presidency, the farewell address, the cabinet |
| Unwritten Constitution | the ideas and practices that are just done, but not written in the U.S. Constitution; the most important examples are the President's cabinet, political parties, and judicial review |
| Hamilton's Financial Plan | Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton's plan to get the United States out of debt; included assumption, the national bank, an excise tax on liquor, and a protective tariff; the most important part is the creation of the national bank in 1793 in which the Congress used it's power of the Elastic Clause |
| Federalists | pro-strong central gov't, pro-Bank of the United States, Bet on the Brits - Alexander Hamilton |
| Democrat-Republicans | pro-weak central gov't, friends with France, pro-agriculture - Thomas Jefferson |
| Whiskey Rebellion | Pennsylvania farmers unsuccessfully rebelled against the excise tax placed on whiskey; proved the U.S. Constitution works |
| Farewell Address | Washington left the presidency in 1797 emphasizing that the U.S. should "steer clear of permanent foreign alliances", therefore remain neutral |
| Louisiana Purchase | The Louisiana Territory was purchased from France for $15 million. President Jefferson used his power to make treaties to buy the land, even though it violated his strict constructionist viewpoint of the Constitution. It doubled the size of the U.S. allowing western farmers to grow their markets and trade utilizing the Port of New Orleans. The Lewis and Clark expedition traveled and mapped the land all the way to the Pacific Ocean, which was actually illegal. |
| Embargo Act | President Jefferson, in an effort to maintain neutrality, banned trade with all countries including France and Britain. The embargo hurt the United States more economically rather than the other nations involved in the ban. |
| Monroe Doctrine | A speech given by James Monroe telling European nations to leave the Western Hemisphere alone - no further colonization allowed or the United States will assume a direct threat to the United States. |
| Spoils system | A tactic used by Andrew Jackson in which he gave his supporters in his elections to the presidency jobs in the federal gov't. |
| Indian Removal Act | It relocated American Indians west of the Mississippi River onto Indian Territory. It led to the tragic Trail of Tears in which 1/4 of the Cherokee population died. |
