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| officers of the Continental Army had long gone without pay, and they met in Newburgh, New York to address Congress about their pay...considered staging a coup and seizing control of the new government |
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Term
| 02. Articles of Confederation |
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| delegated most of the powers (the power to tax, to regulate trade, and to draft troops) to the individual states, but left the federal government power over war, foreign policy, and issuing money. |
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| The document which established the present federal government of the United States and outlined its powers. It can be changed through amendments. |
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| "We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America." |
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| One of the three branches of government...this branch makes the laws. |
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| refers to the practice of representatives or senators exchanging votes for each others' pet bills. |
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| Separate, unrelated clauses added to a bill in the legislature, either in order to ensure that the bill passes or to ensure that it fails. |
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| The minimum number of members of Congress who must be present in order to hold a session. In Congress, this number is more than half of the members. |
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| Part of the committee system. A member of Congress in a committee moves up in rank in that committee as long as he is reelected. |
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| After a bill is introduced in Congress, it is assigned to a small group of legislators for review and consideration, and the committee must vote to approve the bill before it is returned to the Senate or the House for a vote. |
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| The person elected, by the majority party of Congress, to be leader of the majority party in Congress. |
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| The person who tells members of the majority party in Congress how they should vote. |
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| The person elected, by the minority party of Congress, to be leader of the minority party in Congress. |
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| The person who tells members of the minority party in Congress how they should vote. |
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| The practice of drawing the boundary lines of Congressional voting districts to give a particular political party an advantage when electing representatives. |
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| it must be introduced to committee and be approved. Then it must be voted on by the House of Representatives, and then voted on by the Senate, or vice versa, depending on the branch in which the bill was first introduced. Finally, it must be signed by the President. |
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| One of the two parts of Congress, considered the "lower house." Representatives are elected directly by the people, with the number of representatives for each state determined by the state’s population. |
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| The other of the two parts of Congress, considered the "upper house." Senators were originally appointed by state legislatures, but now they are elected directly by the people. Each state has two senators. |
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| One of the three branches of government, the executive enforces laws. It is headed by the president, who has the power to veto legislation passed by Congress. |
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| One of the three branches of government, the judiciary interprets laws. The highest authority in the judiciary is the Supreme Court, which determines the constitutionality of laws. |
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Term
| 221. Interstate relations |
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Definition
| No state is allowed to form a compact with another state or with a foreign power without the consent of Congress. |
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| 222. The amendment process |
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| An amendment to the Constitution may be proposed if 2/3 of the members of Congress or 2/3 of state legislatures vote for it. The amendment may then be added to the Constitution by a 3/4 vote of state legislatures, or special state conventions elected for that purpose. |
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| Article VI of the Constitution, which declares the Constitution, all federal laws passed pursuant to its provisions, and all federal treaties, to be the "supreme law of the land," which override any state laws or state constitutional provisions to the contrary. |
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| The Constitution had to be ratified (approved) by at least 9 of the 13 original states in order to be put into effect. |
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| Each of the three branches of government "checks" the power of the other two, so no one branch can become too powerful. |
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| The powers of the government are divided between three branches: the executive, the legislative, and the judiciary. |
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| 227. Maryland, cession of western land claims |
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Definition
| the Continental Congress was trying to get the states to ratify the Articles of Confederation, but _______ refused to ratify it until all the states gave their western land claims. |
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Term
| 228. New state constitutions during the Revolutionary War |
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Definition
| set of constitutions drafted by the individual states placed most of the government’s power in the legislature, and almost none in the executive in order to promote democracy and avoid tyranny. |
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| 229. Pennsylvania militia routs Congress, 1783 |
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Definition
| Unpaid Revolutionary War veterans staged a protest outside Congress’ meeting hall, forcing Congress to move to Princeton, New Jersey. |
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Definition
British fur-trading posts in the Northwest Territory.
Their presence in the U.S. led to continued British-American conflicts. |
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Term
| 231. Land Ordinance of 1785 |
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Definition
| A major success of the Articles of Confederation. Provided for the orderly surveying and distribution of land belonging to the U.S. |
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Term
| 232. Northwest Ordinance, 1787 |
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Definition
| Set up the framework of a government for the Northwest territory. The Ordinance provided that the Territory would be divided into 3 to 5 states, outlawed slavery in the Territory, and set 60,000 as the minimum population for statehood. |
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| 233. Proposed Jay-Gardoqui Treaty, 1785 |
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Definition
| treaty between the U.S. and Spain would have given the U.S. special privileges at Spanish ports in exchange for giving Spain exclusive rights to the Mississippi River. |
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| Poor, indebted landowners in Massachusetts blocked access to courts and prevented the government from arresting or repossessing the property of those in debt. |
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Term
| 235. Annapolis Convention, 1786 |
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Definition
| A dozen commissioners form New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Virginia met to discuss reform of interstate commerce regulations, to design a U.S. currency standard, and to find a way to repay the federal government’s debts to Revolutionary War veterans. |
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| Caused by a post-war decrease in production and increase in unemployment, and also caused by tough interstate commerce rules which decreased trade. |
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Term
| 237. Noah Webster (1758-1843) |
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Definition
| Wrote some of the first dictionaries and spellers in the U.S. His books, which became the standard for the U.S., promoted American spellings and pronunciations, rather than British. |
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Term
| 238. Constitutional Convention |
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Definition
| the convention recommended by the Annapolis Convention was held in Philadelphia. All of the states except Rhode Island sent delegates, and George Washington served as president of the convention. The convention lasted 16 weeks, and on September 17, 1787, produced the present Constitution of the United States, which was drafted largely by James Madison. |
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| 239. Montesquieu, The Spirit of Laws |
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Definition
| believed that the government’s power should be divided into separate branches, that the government should be close to the people, and that laws should reflect the will of the people. |
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Term
| 240. John Locke, Second Treatise of Government |
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Definition
| wrote that all human beings have a right to life, liberty, and property and that governments exist to protect those rights. He believed that a contract existed between a government and its people, and if the government failed to uphold its end of the contract, the people could rebel and institute a new government. |
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| English philosopher who believed that people are motivated mainly by greed and fear, and need a strong government to keep them under control. |
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| 242. James Madison, "Father of the Constitution" |
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Definition
| His proposals for an effective government became the Virginia Plan, which was the basis for the Constitution. He was responsible for drafting most of the language of the Constitution. |
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| compromised by creating the House and the Senate, and using both of the two separate plans as the method for electing members of each. |
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| called for a two-house Congress with each state’s representation based on state population. |
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| called for a one-house Congress in which each state had equal representation. |
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Term
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| called for a two-house Congress in which both types of representation would be applied, and is also known as the Compromise Plan. |
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| 245. North-South Compromises |
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Definition
| The North was given full federal protection of trade and commerce. The South was given permanent relief from export taxes and a guarantee that the importation of slaves would not be halted for at least 20 years, plus the national capitol was placed in the South. Slaves were also deemed to be counted as 3/5 of a person when determining the state population, thus giving the Southern states a greater number of representatives in the House. |
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Definition
| Slaves were considered 3/5 of a person when determining the state population. |
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| wrote in 1913 that the Constitution was written not to ensure a democratic government for the people, but to protect the economic interests of its writers, and specifically to benefit wealthy financial speculators who had purchased Revolutionary War government bonds through the creation of a strong national government that could insure the bonds repayment. |
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Term
| 249. Fiske, The Critical Period of American History |
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Definition
| He called the introduction of the Constitution the "critical period" because the Constitution saved the nation from certain disaster under the Articles of Confederation. |
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Term
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Definition
| opposed the ratification of the Constitution because it gave more power to the federal government and less to the states, and because it did not ensure individual rights. |
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