Chapter 6 Flashcards History

Democracy

A form of government in which power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly or indirectly through a system of representation

Newburgh Conspiracy

After the War, the soldiers were asked to wait to receive compensation. They waited in Newburgh for months, but signed a petition with their complaints when they were not paid. However, the articles of confederation were too weak and they could not raise taxes. Horatio Gates began to plan for a government takedown, and the Newburgh addresses were published to call for a meeting with congress to discuss. Washington attacked the addresses at the meeting and ended military action, Congress voted to pay debt.

Shays’ Rebellion

An armed movement of debt-ridden farmers in western Massachusetts in the winter of 1786-87 who objected to the state’s effort to tax them to pay off the Revolutionary War debt. It was led by Daniel Shays, and the farmers called themselves regulators. They petitioned for economic relief, but the legislature blamed the farmers, and the regulators stopped courts from meeting in multiple towns. The riot act was passed to stop the armed groups, and the regulators planned to overthrow the government. The regulators retreated after attacking Springfield and the rebellion ended. People’s wanted a stronger central government.

Northwest Ordinance of 1787

Legislation passed by Congress under the Articles of Confederation that provided for public schools, the sale of government land, and prohibited slavery in the Northwest Territories. It also mandated religious freedom.

Daniel Boone

Soldier, hunter, and trapper who explored Kentucky and created Boonesborough

Treaty of Fort Stanwix

A 1784 treaty between one faction of the Iroquois and the U.S. government that sought to end the violent battles over land in New York, Pennsylvania, and the Ohio River Valley to the west. It resulted in temporary peace on the New York border, but did not hold.

Joseph Brant

One of the opposers of the Treaty of Stanwix, and the leader of the Mohawks, he sailed for London to request compensation from the war. He planned to create a resistance to the Americans, and made an Indian Confederation. They were very unified and demanded no white settlement west of the Ohio River. It led to lots of violence and people needed a stronger government to oppose the natives.

Republican Motherhood

The belief that women should have more rights and a better education so that they might support husbands and raise sons who would actively participate in the political affairs of society. It became the dominant theology in which women shaped the world from home.

Annapolis Convention

Conference of state delegates that issued a call in September 1786 for a convention to consider changes to the Articles of Confederation. The meeting led to want for more changes.

Constitutional Convention

Convention that met in Philadelphia in 1787 and drafted the Constitution of the United States. It was originally supposed to make small revisions, but instead created a whole new document. Some prominent leaders and many groups were not represented.

Virginia Plan

The first proposal put forward at the Constitutional convention, which included two houses of Congress, both elected by proportional representation, and a national executive and judiciary. It was supported by larger states because they got more representation. Proposed by Edmund Randolph

Separation of Powers

A core aspect of the Constitution that by which different parts of the new national government would have their authority always limited by other parts.

Federalism

A system of government in which power is clearly divided between state governments and the national-or federal-government.

Proportional Representation

A way of selecting representatives in Congress based on the total population of a state, as opposed to having each state receive equal votes in Congress.

New Jersey plan

A proposal of the New Jersey delegation to the Constitutional Convention by which both houses of Congress would be elected by states, with equal size delegations for every state. It was supported by smaller states because they got the same representation as large states. Proposed by William Patterson.

Connecticut Plan/Great Compromise

Plan proposed for creating a national bicameral legislature in which all states would be equally represented in the Senate and proportionally represented in the House. It was proposed by Roger Sherman, but was not adopted easily.

Electoral College

A system in which each state selects presidential electors according to the number of its senators and representatives in Congress by whatever method it prefers, and these electors then select the president.

three-fifths clause

Another compromise from the Constitutional Convention by which slaves-though the term was never used-would be counted as three-fifths of a person for purposes of establishing a state’s representation under the proportional representation plan. It was established to appease the Southern states so they would have more representation.

Federalists

Supporters of the Constitution, those who favored its ratification. Leaders of the federalist party wrote the federalist papers to convince people to ratify the Constitution.

Antifederalists

Opponents of the Constitution; those who argued against its ratification. They feared the Constitution because there was no Bill of Rights.