| A | B |
|---|
| a centralized government; all powers held by the government belong to a single, central agency(ex. Great Britain) | Unitary Government |
| a legislative body made up of one house | unicameral |
| Where and when did the Constitutional Convention take place? | Philadelphia, 1787 |
| In a democracy, the majority rules but must heed or pay attention to what? | minority opinion |
| the powers of government are divided between a central government and several local governments | Federal Government |
| What was the first attempt to unify the colonies? | Albany Plan of Union |
| an adjustment of opposing principles or systems by modifying some aspect of health | compromise |
| those who rule cannot be held responsible to the will of the people | dictatorship |
| What is the Connecticut Compromise(or Great Compromise)? | settled the issue of the Virginia and New Jersey Plans; it pleased both sides stating there would be a bicameral legislature-the Senate would have equal representation and House would be based on population |
| persons who favored the ratification of the proposed Constitution | Federalists |
| Who is given credit for writing the Declaration of Independence? | Thomas Jefferson |
| Why is James Madison known as the "father of the constitution? | he kept volumes of notes of the proceedings at the convention & he contributed more to the writing of the Constitution than anyone else |
| What is Washington D.C.? | it is a district(district of Columbia)-not a state |
| Where was the nation's second capital and when? | Philadelphia, 1790-1800 |
| When did the new Constitution go into effect? | 1789 |
| How can the delegates of the Constitutional Convention be described? | average age 42, well-educated, powerful, wealthy, influential |
| formal approval | ratification |
| How did the Federalists favor the new Constitution? | as it was written |
| system of overlapping the powers of the branches of government in order to permit each branch to check the actions of the others | Checks and Balances |
| the group who came together in 1787 to draft the Constitution of the United States | Framers |
| basic principle of the American System of government, government is limited in what it may do and each individual has certain rights the government cannot take away | limited government |
| an alliance of independent states | confederation |
| supreme political authority rests with the people | democracy |
| What were the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation? | no executive branch(no president or head of state), no power to collect taxes, no national court system, 9 of 13 states had to agree before any changes could be made |
| has supreme and absolute power within its own territory | sovereign |
| What was needed for the states to ratify the new Constitution? | Bill of Rights would need to be added for the states to ratify the new Constitution |
| Constitutional requirement that each State honor the public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other state | Full Faith and Credit |
| What was the first US constitution called and when was it in effect? | Articles of Confederation 1781-1789 |
| principle of American system of government that the executive legislative, and judicial powers are divided among three independent and coequal branches | separation of powers |
| principle that government can exist and function only with the consent of the people | popular sovereignty |
| the power to decide whether what government does is in accord with the Constitution | judicial review |
| basic principle that government and its people are bound by the fundamental law | constitutionalism |
| Name the 3 philosophers that the framers used. | John Locke, Baron de Montinesque, Rousseau |
| What did the philosopher John Locke believe? | people are free, independent, and equal-must have consent in government |
| What did the philosopher Baron de Montinesque believe? | separation of powers into 3 branches |
| What did the philosopher Rousseau believe? | some individual rights might be forfeited(given up) for the good of the government |
| the American concept of democracy rests on these basic ideas | funamental worth & dignity of every person, respect for the equality of all persons, a faith in majority rule & insistence upon minority rights, acceptance of necessity of compromise, insistence upon the widest possible degree of individual freedom |
