A | B |
limited government | government is restricted in what it may do, and each individual has rights that the government cannot take away |
representative government | system of government in which public policies are made by officials selected by the voters and held accountable in periodic elections |
Magna Carta | England, 1215; established that the power of the monarchy is not absolute, guaranteed trial by jury |
Petition of Right | England, 1628; challenged the idea of the divine right of kings, declared the monarch subject to the laws |
English Bill of Rights | England 1689; designed to prevent abuse of power by the monarch |
charter | a written grant of authority by the king |
bicameal | a legislative body composed of two chambers |
proprietary | organized by a person to whom the king made a grant of land |
unicameral | a legislative body composed of one chamber |
confederation | a joining of several groups for a common purpose |
Albany Plan of Union | proposed by Ben Franklin in 1754 aimed to unite the 13 colonies for trade, military, and other purposes |
delegate | representative |
boycott | refusal to buy or sell certain products or services |
repeal | recall |
popular sovereignty | asserts that the people are the source of any and all governmental power |
Articles of Confederation | plan of government adopted by the Continental Congress establishing a "firm league of friendship", but allowing few important powers to the central government |
ratification | formal approval |
presiding officer | chairman |
Framers | the group of delegates who drafted the U.S. Constitution in 1787 |
Virginia Plan | called for 3 branches of government in which the State's membership would be determined by population |
New Jersey Plan | called for a unicameral government with each State equally represented |
Connecticut Compromise | agreement that Congress should be composed of a Senate with equal State representation, and a House represented by population |
Three-Fifths Compromise | agreement to count slaves as three-fifths of a person when determining the population of a State |
Commerce and Slave Trade Compromise | an agreement denying Congress the power to tax exports, and denying power to act on slave trade for 20 years |
Federalists | those persons who supported the ratification of the Constitution |
Anti-Federalists | those persons who opposed the ratification of the Constitution |
quorum | the least number of members who must be present to conduct business; majority |