| A | B |
|---|
| constitution | a document stating the rules under which a government will operate. |
| executive | the person who runs the government and sees that the laws are carried out. |
| economic depression | a period when business activity slows, prices and wages drop, and unemployment rises. |
| Daniel Shays | leader of an uprising of farmers in Massachusetts in 1786 in response to the sale of their farms. |
| James Madison | Father of the Constitution and author of the Virginia Plan |
| judicial branch | system of courts that interpret the law |
| Roger Sherman | delegate from Connecticut who proposed the Great Compromise |
| compromise | an agreement in which each side gives up part of what it wants. |
| Gouverneur Morris | author of the Preamble to the Constitution |
| ratify | to approve |
| George Mason | Antifederalist leader |
| Federalist Papers | series of 85 newspaper essays in support of the Constitution |
| Bill of Rights | First 10 amendments to the Constitution |
| First Amendment | guarantees freedom of religion, speech, and the press |
| Second Amendment | guarantees the right to bear arms |
| Fourth Amendment | protects citizens from unreasonable searches of their homes or seizure of their property |
