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| Articles of Confederation |
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| America's first written constitution. Adopted by the Continental Congress in 1777, the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union was the formal basis for America's national government until 1789, when it was suspended by the Constitution. |
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| A framework for the Constitution introduced by Edmund Randolph, which called for representation in the national legislature based on the population of the state. |
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| A framework for the Constitution introduced by William Paterson, which called for equal representation in the national legislature regardless of a state's population. |
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| Agreement reached at the Constitutional Convention of 1787 that gave each state an equal number of senators regardless of its population, but linked representation in the House of Representatives to population. |
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| Agreement reached at the Constitutional Convention of 1787 that stipulated that for purposes of appointment of congressional seats, every slave would be counted as 3/5 of a person. |
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| Division of the legislative body into two houses, chambers, and branches. |
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| The notion that the Constitution grants to the federal government only those powers specifically expressed. |
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| Necessary and Proper Clause |
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| Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution. States the powers of Congress and provides Congress with the authority to make all laws "necessary and proper" to carry them out; the "Elastic Clause." |
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| Power of the courts to declare actions of the legislative and executive branches invalid or unconstitutional; asserted in Marbury v. Madison (1803). |
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| Article VI of the Constitution, which states that all laws passed by the national government and all treaties are the supreme laws of the land and superior to all laws adopted by any state or subdivision. |
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| The division of governmental power among several institutions that must cooperate in decision making. |
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| System of government in which power is divided by a constitution between a central government and regional governments. |
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| First ten amendments to the constitution ratified in 1791; basic rights and liberties. |
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| Those who favored a strong central government and supported the Constitution in 1787 (Hamilton, Madison, Washington) |
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| Those who favored strong state governments and a weak central governments; opposed the constitution in 1787. |
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