Keywords – Chapter 8 – Confederation to Constitution 1776-1791

Name ______Page ___

  1. States constitution: after declaring independence in 1776, each state set out to create its own state set of laws and a government based on how they had worked as colonies
  1. Legislature: lawmaking body of elected officials
  1. Executive: chief officer of a government or state or business
  1. Republic: state, country, or nation in which people elect representatives to govern
  1. Levy: to raise or create a tax
  1. Arsenal: a place where weapons and ammunition are stored
  1. Faction: A small, organized, dissenting group within a larger one, esp. in politics
  1. Ratification: (also ratify, ratified) to approve or confirm a document or law or act
  1. Federal Government: National government.
  1. Articles of Confederation: this first written plan for their national government that lasted a little over 10 years.
  1. Confederation Congress: The new national government under the Articles of Confederation was run by this group (one legislative house)
  1. Surveyor: people whose job it is to measure and divide land
  1. Land Ordinance of 1785: law that called for surveyors to divide up the frontier land between the Appalachian Mountains and the Mississippi River into six mile square sections called “territories.”
  1. Northwest Territory: all the land between the Great Lakes and Ohio River and the Appalachian Mountains and the Mississippi river that had been divided up (includes what is today Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, and Wisconsin).
  1. Northwest Ordinance of 1787: a law that explained how those new six mile square territories would be governed.
  1. Shay’s Rebellion: Anuprising led by a former militia officer in Massachusetts.
  1. Annapolis Convention: Meeting in Annapolis, Maryland to discuss weaknesses of national government under the Articles of Confederation.
  1. Constitutional Convention: 55 delegates met in Philadelphia starting in May 1787 and write the US Constitution after deciding to abolish the Articles of Confederation.
  1. Federalist: Group of people who supported the strong central government that was created by the US Constitution.
  1. Anti-Federalists: Group of people who opposed the strong central government that was created by the US Constitution.
  1. Virginia Plan: Suggested planfor government favored by large states that wouldinclude three braches (executive, legislative and judicial) and argued fortwo legislative houseswith representation based on population of the state and or wealth of the state:
  1. New Jersey Plan: Suggested plan for government favored by small states that included 3 branches of government. This included only one legislative house with all states having equal representation.
  1. Great Compromise: Suggested by Robert Sherman of Connecticut. Took most of the ideas from the Virginia Plan, but, compromised how the number of representatives. Still two houses, but one would have an equal number per state (Senate), and the other house would be based on population (House of Representatives). This satisfied both the large states wants for proportional representation and the small states need to be heard equally.
  1. Three-Fifths Compromise: In this compromise, the founders agreed that each slave would be counted as 3/5th of a person towards representation in the House of Representatives and 3/5ths towards property taxes as well.
  1. Slave Trade Ban : Agreement made at the Constitutional Convention that said that the importation of new slaves to the US couldn’t be banneduntil 1808.
  1. Federalism: the idea of states and national government sharing power.
  1. Amendments: CHANGES – these are official changes to the Constitution. The Bill of Rights are the first TEN amendments to the Constitution. Currently, there are 27 amendments.
  1. Electoral College: Group of representatives that vote for the president.
  1. James Madison: Considered to be the Father of the Constitution because of his great influence on its creation.
  1. Federalist Papers: letters written by supporters of the Constitution that were written to persuade Americans to support ratification of the Constitution.
  1. Anti-Federalist Papers letters written by opponents of the Constitution that were written to persuade Americans NOT to support ratification of the Constitution.