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| An economic theory designed to increase a nation’s wealth through the development of commercial industry and favorable balance of trade. |
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| Meeting of representatives of nine of the thirteen colonies help in New York Coty in 1765, during which representatives drafted a document to send to the king listing ho their rights had been violated. |
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| Committees of Correspondence |
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| Organization in each of the American colonies created to keep colonists abreast of developments with the British; served as powerful molders of public opinion against the British. |
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| First Continental Congress |
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| Meeting held in Philadelphia from September 5 to October 26, 1774, in which fifty-six delegates (from every colony except Georgia) adopted a resolution in opposition to the Coercive Acts. |
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| Second Continental Congress: |
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| Meeting that convened in Philadelphia on May 10 1775, at which it was decided that an army should be raised and George Washington of Virginia was named commander in chief. |
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| Declaration of Independence |
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| Document drafted by Thomas Jefferson in 1776 that proclaimed the right of the American colonies to separate from Great Britain. |
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| Articles of Confederation |
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| The compact around the thirteen original colonies that created a loose league of friendship, with the national government drawing its powers from the states. |
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| Type of government where the national government derives its powers from the states; a league of independent states. |
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| A 1786 rebellion in which an army of 1,500 distinguished and angry farmers led by Daniel Shays marched to Springfield, Massachusetts, and forcibly restrained the state court from foreclosing mortgages on their farms. |
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| A document establishing the structure, functions, and limitations of a government. |
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| The first general plan for the Constitution offered in Philadelphia. Its key points were a bicameral legislature, and an executive and a judiciary chosen by the national legislature. |
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| A framework for the Constitution proposed by a group of small states. Its key points were a one-house legislature with one vote for each state, a congress with the ability to raise revenue, and a Supreme Court with members appointed for life. |
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| The final decision of the Constitutional Convention to create a two–house legislature with the lower house elected by the people and with powers divided between the two houses. It also made national law supreme. |
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| Agreement reached at the Constitutional Convention stipulating that each slave was to be counted as three-fifths of a person for purposes of determining population for representation in the U.S. House of Representatives. |
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| A way of dividing the power of government among the legislative, executive, and judicial branches, each staffed separately, with equality and independence of each branch ensured by the Constitution. |
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| A constitutionally mandated structure that gives each of the three branches of government some degree of oversight and control over the actions of the others. |
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| System of government where the national government and state governments share power, derive all authority from the people, and the powers of the government are specified in a constitution. |
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| Seventeen specific powers granted to Congress under the Article I, section 8, of the Constitution. |
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| Necessary and Proper Clause |
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| The final paragraph of Article I, section 8, of the Constitution, which gives Congress the authority to pass all laws “necessary and proper” to carry out the enumerated powers specified in the Constitution; also called the elastic clause. |
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| Powers derived from the enumerated powers and the necessary and proper clause. These powers are not stated specifically but are considered to be reasonable implied through the exercise of delegated powers. |
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| Full Faith and Credit Clause |
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| Section of Article IV of the Constitution that ensures judicial decrees and contracts made in one state will be binding and enforceable in any other state. |
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| Portion of Article VI of the U.S. Constitution mandating that national law is supreme to (that is, supersedes) all other laws passed by the states or by any other subdivision of government. |
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| Those who favored a stronger national government and supported the proposed U.S. Constitution; later became the first U.S. political party. |
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| Those who favored strong state governments and a weak national government; opposed the ratification of the U.S. Constitution. |
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| A series of 85 political essays written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay in support of the ratification of the U.S. Constitution. |
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| The first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution, which largely guarantees specific rights and liberties. |
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