| A | B |
|---|
| duty | tax on imported goods |
| recession | economic slowdown |
| Articles of Confederation & Perpetual Union | a plan for a loose union of the states under the authority of the Congress |
| Northwest Ordinance | basis for governing much of the western territory, created new territory north of Ohio river & east of Mississippi to become states |
| Shay's rebellion | August 1786, farmers in western Massachusetts rebelled against taxes |
| popular sovereignty | rule by the people through a representative system |
| federalism | divided government power between national and state governments |
| separation of powers | government principle in which power is divided among different branches |
| legislative branch | two houses of Congress to make the laws |
| executive branch | headed by president, would implement and enforce the laws passed by Congress |
| judicial branch | a system of federal courts that would interpret federal laws and render judgement in cases involving those laws |
| checks and balances | prevents any one of the three branches from becoming too powerful-each branch had the ability to limit power of other branches |
| veto | reject the acts of Congress |
| impeach | formally accuse of misconduct |
| amendments | changes to the Constitution |
| Virginia Plan | proposed scrapping Articles of Confederation and creating a new national government with two houses of Congress & the power to make laws & raise money through taxes |
| New Jersey Plan | modified Articles of Confederation by making Central government stronger, one house of Congress, raising taxes, regulating trade |
| Federalists | supporters of the Constitution |
| Antifederalists | opponents of the Constitution |
| John Hancock & Patrick Henry | prominent Antifederalists whom believed the problem was whether the national or state governments would be supreme |
| Three-Fifths compromise | every five enslaved people in a state would count as three free persons for determining representation and taxes |
| Great Compromise | also called Connecticut Compromise-in House of Representatives states would be represented according to their population; in the Senate there would be equal representation |
| nationalist | people who supported a stronger central government |
| James Madison | influential nationalists, constructed constitution, and wrote Virginia Plan |
| Samuel Adams | American patriot & Massachusetts Antifederalist |
| inflation | the loss of value of money |
| Bill of Rights | first ten amendments of the Constitution |
| "The Federalist" papers | 85 essays written by James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, & John Jay in support of ratifying the Constitution |
| House of Representatives | members based on population of state-tax & spending bills originate here, can impeach any federal official it suspects of wrongdoing or misconduct, propose laws(bills) |
| Senate | set number of members for each state(2)-tries impeached officials, ratify treaties made by president, confirms presidential appointments, propose laws(bills) |
| Land Ordinance of 1785 | established method for surveying the western lands-arranged the land into townships six miles square and each townships was divided into 36 sections, one mile square |
| Thomas Jefferson | unable to attend the Constitutional Convention because he was serving as the American minister to France |
