| A | B |
|---|
| Wilderness Road | the trail into Kentucky that woodsman Daniel Boone helped to build |
| republic | a government in which people elect representatives to govern them |
| Articles of Confederation | a document, adopted by the Continental Congress in 1777 and finally approved by the states in 1781, that outlined the form of government of the new United States |
| Land Ordinance of 1785 | a law that established a plan for surveying and selling the federally owned lands west of the Appalachian Mountains |
| Northwest Territory | territory covered by the Land Ordinance of 1785. which included land that formed the states of Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, and part of Minnesota |
| Northwest Ordinance | it described how the Northwest Territory was to be governed and set conditions for settlement and settlers' rights |
| Shay's Rebellion | an uprising of debt-ridden Massachusetts farmers in 1787 |
| Constitutional Convention | a meeting held in 1787 to consider changes to the Articles of Confederation; resulted in the drafting of the Constitution |
| James Madison | delagate at Constitutional Convention; known as Father of the Constitution |
| Virginia Plan | a plan proposed by Edward Randolph, a delegate to the Constitutional Convention in 1787, that proposed a government with three branches and a two-housed legislature in which representation would be based on a state's population or wealth |
| New Jersey Plan | a plan of government proposed at the Constitutional Convention in 1787 that called for a one-house legislature in which each state would have one vote |
| Great Compromise | the Constitutional Convention's agreement to establish a two-house national legislature, with all states having equal representation in one house and each state having representation based on its population in the other house |
| Three-Fifths Compromise | the Constitutional Convention's agreement to count three-fifths of a state's slaves as population for purposes of representation and taxation |
| federalism | a system of government where power is shared among the central (or federal) government and the states |
| Federalists | supporters of the Constititution |
| Antifederalists | a person opposed to the ratification of the U.S. Constitution |
| The Federalist papers | a series of essays defending and explaining the Constitution |
| George Mason | most influential Virginian aside from Washington, opposed to the Constitution |
| Bill of Rights | the first 10 ammendments to the U.S. Constitution, added in 1791, and consisting of a formal list of citizens' rights and freedoms |
