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Gov't Ch 2 Terms
Chapter 2 Vocab
Question | Answer |
---|---|
Mayflower Compact | A document drawn by Pilgrim leaders in 1620 on the ship "Mayflower". The document stated that laws were to be made for the general good of the people. |
Bill Of Rights | The first ten amendments to the U.S Constitution. They list the freedoms -such as the freedoms of speech,press and religion- that a citizen enjoys and that cannot be infringed on by the government. |
First Continental Congress | A gathering of delegates from twelve of the thirteen colonies held in 1774 to protect the Coercive Acts. |
Second Continental Congress | The congress of the colonies that met in 1775 to assume the powers of a central government and to establish an army. |
Unicameral Legislature | A legislature with only one chamber |
Confederation | A league of independent states that are united only for the purpose of achieving common goals. |
Articles of Confederation | The nation's first national constitution, which established a national form of governments following the American Revolution. The Articles provided for a confederal form of government in which the central government had few powers. |
Shay's Rebellion | A rebellion of angry farmers in western Massachusetts in 1786, led by former Revolutionary War captain Daniel Shays. This rebellion and other similar uprisings in the New England states emphasized the need for a true national government. |
Constitutional Convention | The convention of delegates from the states that was held in Philadelphia in 1787 for the purpose of amending the Articles of Confederation. |
Great Compromise | A plan for a bicameral legislature in which one chamber would be based on population and the other chamber would represent each state equally. The plan, also known as the Connecticut Compromise, resolved the small-state/ large-state controversy. |
Three-fifths compromise | A compromise reached during the Constitutional Convention by which three-fifths of all slaves were to be counted for purposes of representation in the House of Representatives. |
Interstate Commerce | Trade that involves more than one state |
Federalists | A political group, led by Alexander Hamilton and John Adams, that supported the adoption of the Constitution and the creations of a federal form of government. |
Anti-Federalists | A political group that opposed the adoption of the Constitution because of the documents centralist tendencies and because it didn't include a bill of rights. |
Faction | A group of persons forming a cohesive minority. |
Tyranny | The arbitrary or unrestrained exercise of power by an oppressive individual or government. |
Rule Of Law | A basic principle of government that govern to act in accordance with established laws. |
federal system | A form of government that provides for a division of powers between a central government and several regional governments. In the US the division of powers between the national government and the states is established by the Constitution. |
Commerce Clause | The clause in Article 1, Section 8, of the Constitution that gives Congress the power to regulate interstate commerce (commerce involving more than one state). |
Madisonian Model | The model of government devised by James Madison, in which the powers of the government are separated into three branches of government: executive, legislature, and judicial |
Separation of Powers | The principle of dividing governmental powers among the executive, the legislative, and the judicial branches of government. |
Checks and Balances | A major principle of American government in which each of the three branches is given the means to check the actions of others. |
Veto Power | A constitutional power that enables the chief executive to reject legislation and return it to the legislature with reasons for the rejection. This prevents or at least delays the bill from becoming a law. |