| A | B |
|---|
| Articles of Confederation | the first governing document of the United States, ratified in 1781, it created a weak national government with no Judicial or Executive Branch, and a Congress that could not tax or control trade, giving most power to the states |
| Bill of Rights | the first ten amendments of the U.S. Constitution, containing a list of individual rights and liberties given to people of the United States |
| Great Compromise | written during the Constitutional Convention, balanced power between large and small states by creating a Senate, where each state has 2 Senators, and a House of Representatives, where membership is based on population |
| checks and balances | A system that allows each branch of government to limit the powers of the other branches in order to prevent abuse of power |
| VA Plan | written by James Madison, the Virginia Plan called for the new government to have an executive branch, a judicial branch, and a legislative branch with two houses, where membership in both was based on population |
| VA Declaration of Rights | document authored by George Mason which supported the notion that basic human rights should not be violated by governments |
| VA Statute for Religious Freedom | document authored by Thomas Jefferson which outlawed an established church (the practice of government support for one favored church) |
| Federalists | group of people who advocated the importance of a strong central government during ratification debates (from VA - George Washington, James Madison) |
| Anti-Federalists | group of people who feared an overly powerful central government that could become destructive of the rights of individuals and the rights of states (from VA - George Mason, Patrick Henry) |
| The Federalist Papers | series of newspaper articles written by John Jay, James Madison and Alexander Hamilton which explained and supported arguments in favor of the Constitution and tried to disprove the arguments of the Anti-Federalists |
| precedent | an example that may serve as a basis for imitation or later action |
| judicial review | the power of the Supreme Court to declare laws and actions of local, state, or national governments unconstitutional |
| Three-Fifths Compromise | agreement made during the Constitutional Convention by which the number of each state's representatives in the House of Representatives would be based on a count of all the free people plus three-fifths of the slaves |
| implied powers | Powers for the National Government that go beyond what is written into the Constitution that allow Congress to carry out its functions |
| commerce | the buying and selling of goods and services |
