| A | B |
|---|
| disetablish | to separate an official state church from its connection with the government |
| emancipation | setting free from servitude or slavery |
| chattel | an article of personal or movable property |
| abolitionist | an advocate of the end of slavery |
| ratification | The confirmation or validation of an act by authoritative approval |
| bill of rights | a list of fundamental freedoms assumed to be central to society |
| speculators | those who buy property, good or financial instruments in anticipation of a quick profit |
| territory | In American government, an organized political entity not yet enjoying the full and equal status of a state |
| township | in America, a surveyed territory six miles square, the term also refers to a unit of local government, smaller than a county |
| annex | to make a smaller territory part of a larger one |
| requisition | a demand for something issued on the basis of public authority |
| foreclosure | depriving someone of the right to redeem mortgaged property because the legal payments on the loan have not been made |
| quorum | the minimum number of persons who must be present in a group before it can conduct valid business |
| anarchy | The theory that formal government is unnecessary and wrong in principle; also used to denote lawlessness or antigovernmental disorder |
| bicameral | legislative body having two houses |
| unicameral | a legislative body having one house |
| Abigail Adams | wife of John Adams; early advocate of political rights for women |
| Daniel Shays | leader of the rebellion of small farmers in Western Masachusetts that resulted from foreclosures |
| Alexander Hamilton | first Treasury Secretary, formulated a financial plan that harnessed debt as a force to unify the country |
| James Madison | "Father of the Constitution"; part of the Virginia dynasty of presidents |
| primogeniture | law that allows only the first born son to inherit property |
| federation | a voluntary political association of sovereign states |
| checks and balances | the system in the constitution that is designed to prevent the accumulation of power by any one branch of government |
| sovereignty | the quality of having supreme independent authority |
| mobocracy | rule by the chaotic masses |
| consent of the governed | a basic English and American political principle upon which the legitimacy of government ultimately rests; |
| republicanism | the set of ideals associated with representative democracy |
| states' rights | political concept of strong, independent state governments within a federal system |
| popular sovereignty | the political doctrine that says that the legitimacy and ultimaty source of authority of a government comes from the people |
| confederation | a permanent union of political units for a common purpose |
| anarchy | generally-chaos; also the political idea that organized government is not necessary |
| Society of the Cincinnati | organization consisting of the first born sons and descendants of Continental Army Officers |
| Great Compromise | took elements of the Virginia Plan and the New Jersey Plan to create the Constitution |
| Articles of Confederation | the original constitution of the United States; was characterized by a weak central authority |
| Electoral College | anti-democratic body empowered to elect the president |
| Land Ordinance of 1785 | law that provided for the surveying and sale of lands in the Old Northwest Territory |
| Northwest Ordinance | law that provided for the process by which new states would be organized and admitted to the United States as equals to the old states |
| antifederalists | those who opposed ratification of the new Constitution in 1789 |
| Shay's Rebellion | rebellion in western Massachusetts which resulted from small farms being foreclosed on |
| Federalists | wrote numerous articles advocating the new Constitution; included Hamilton, Jay and Madison |
| large state plan | aka the Virginia plan; proposed Congressional representation based on population |
| Constitution of the United States | the current system of government of the United States |
| bundle of compromises | describes the way in which the new Constitution was put together |
| small state plan | aka the New Jersey Plan; proposed equal representation for each state |
