Federal Government Test 1

1774

British adopt Coercive Acts to punish the colonies.

First Continental Congress rejects plan of union but adopts Declaration of Americans Rights denying Parliament’s authority over internal colonial affairs.

Civil Liberties

Constitutional and legal protections form government interference with personal rights and freedoms such as freedom of assembly, speech, and religion.

Legislative Branch

1775

Civil Rights

The powers or privileges conferred on citizens by the Constitution and the courts that entitle them to make claims upon the government. Civil rights protect individuals from arbitrary or discriminatory treatment at the hands of the government.

Liberty

1776

Commerce Clause

The Clause in Article 1, Section 8, of the Constitution that gives Congress the authority to regulate commerce with other nations and among the states.

Limitations on powers

10th Amendment

The amendment that offers the most explicit endorsement of federalism to be found in the Constitution: “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people

Concurrent Federalism

Magna Carta

13th Amendment

Confederation

A political system in which states or regional governments retain ultimate authority except for those powers they expressly delegate to a central government

Maranda Warning

Requirement that police inform suspects that they have the right to remain silent and a right to have counsel while being interrogated. Failure to inform suspects of their rights will result in any confession or evidence thus obtained being inadmissible against them at trial

14th Amendment

Constitution

A document outlining the formal rules and institutions of government and the limits placed on its powers

Missouri Compromise

15th Amendment

Declaration of Independence

The document drafted by Thomas Jefferson and adopted by the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, declaring the independence of the thirteen colonies from Great Britian

Monarchy

1st Amendment

Declaration of rights and resolves

Necessary and proper clause

The last clause of Article 1, Section 8 of the constitution. This clause grants Congress the authority to make all laws that are “necessary and proper” and to execute those laws

2nd Amendment

Democracy

New Jersey Plan

New Jersey delegate William Paterson’s proposal for reforming the Articles of Confederation. Introduced at the Constitutional Convention (1787), the New Jersey plan was favored by delegates who supported states’ rights

3rd Amendment

Due Process Clause

A clause found in both the 5^th and 14^th Amendments to the Constitution protecting citizens from arbitrary action by the national and state governments

Obscenity

Defined as publicly offensive acts or language, usually of a sexual nature, with no redeeming social value. The Supreme Court has offered varying definitions in its ruling over the years.

4th Amendment

Emancipation Proclamation

Oligarchy

5th Amendment

Enumerated Powers

The explicit powers given to Congress by the Constitution in Article 1, Section 8. These include the powers of taxation, coinage of money, regulation of commerce, and provision for the national defense

Patrick Henry

6th Amendment

Executive Branch

Plessy V. Ferguson

8th Amendment

Federalism

A system of government in which power is divided between the central government and several regional governments. in the United States the division is between the national government and the states

Politics

The process through which individuals and groups reach agreement on a course of common, or collective, action- even as they disagree on the intended goals of that action

9th Amendment

Federalists

Name given to 2 related, but not identical, groups in late 18 century American politics. The first group, led by Alexander Hamilton and James Madison, supported ratification of the Constitution in 1787 and 1788. Subsequently, Hamilton and John Adams led the second group, the Federalist Party, which dominated national politics during the administrations of George Washington (1789-1797) and John Adams (1797-1801)

Poll Tax

A tax imposed on people when they register to vote. In the decades after the Civil War this tax was used primarily to disenfranchise black voters. With passage of the 24^th Amendment, in 1964, it became unconstitutional

Affirmative action

Policies of programs designed to expand opportunities for minorities and women and usually requiring that an organization take measures to increase the number or proportion of minorities and women in its membership or employment

Free Exercise Clause

The second clause of the 1^st Amendment. The free exercise clause forbids the national government from interfering with the exercise of religion

Republic

A form of democracy in which power is vested in elected representatives

Alexander Hamilton

Full Faith and Credit Clause

Samuel Adams

Articles of Confederation

The compact among the thirteen original states that formed the basis of the first national government of the United States from 1777-1789, when it was supplanted by the Constitution

George Washington

Segregation

The political and social practice of separating whites and blacks into dual and highly unequal schools, hospitals, prisons, public parks, housing, and public transportation

Benjamin Franklin

Gideon Rule

Separation of Powers

The distribution of government powers among several political institutions. In the U.S., at the national level power is divided between the three branches: Congress, the president, and the supreme Court

Bicameral Government

September 17, 1787

Bill of Rights

The first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution

Grandfather Clause

statutes stating that only those people whose grandfather had voted before Reconstruction could vote, unless they passed a literacy test or wealth test. After the civil war this mechanism was used to disenfranchise African Americans

Shay’s Rebellion

Uprising of 1786 led by Daniel Shays, a former captain in the Continental Army and a bankrupt Massachusetts farmer, to protest the state’s high taxes and aggressive debt collection policies. The rebellion demonstrated a fundamental weakness of the Articles of Confederation- its inability to keep peace- and stimulated interest in strengthening the national government, leading to the Philadelphia convention that framed the constitution

Black Codes

Laws enacted by southern legislature after the Civil War that prevented former enslaved people from voting and holding certain jobs, among other prohibitions

Ideology

A comprehensive, integrated set of views about government and politics

Social Contact Theory

Block Grant

A broad grant of money given by the federal government to a state government. the grant specifies the general area (such as education or health services) in which the funds may be spent but leaves it to the state to determine the specific allocations.

Interest Groups

Organized groups of people seeking to influence public policy

Supremacy Clause

A clause in Article VI of the Constitution declaring that national laws are the “supreme” law of the land and therefore take precedence over any laws adopted by states or localities

Checks and Balances

A constitutional mechanism giving each branch some oversight and control of the other branches. Examples are the presidential veto, Senate approval of presidential appointments, and judicial review of presidential and congressional actions

James Madison

Symbolic Speech

Citizen

Judicial Branch

Virginia Plan

Constitutional blueprint drafted by James Madison that sought to reform the Articles of Confederation introduced at the Constitutional Convention (1787), the plan proposed a tripartite national government, but unlike the subsequent Constitution, it provided for a popularly elected legislature that would dominate national policymaking

Warrant