American Politics: The Revolutionary Roots and Creation of the U.S. Constitution

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering the revolutionary road to independence, the Articles of Confederation, the Constitutional Convention, key plans and compromises, constitutional principles and articles, and the ratification debate.

Sons of Liberty

An intercolonial association formed by merchants, lawyers, and traders that actively resisted British taxation by destroying stamped taxed items and forcing official stamp distributors to resign.

Daughters of Liberty

A group of colonial women who opposed British economic policies by gathering to spin cloth and promoting the elimination of British cloth from colonial markets.

Boston Tea Party

A protest on December 16, 1773, in which a mob boarded three ships and dumped 342 chests of tea into Boston Harbor, prompting the British Parliament to pass the Coercive Acts of 1774.

Coercive Acts (1774)

A series of punitive measures enacted by the British Parliament in response to the Boston Tea Party to reassert imperial authority over the colonies.

First Continental Congress

A gathering in Philadelphia in September 1774 of delegates from all colonies except Georgia, in which each colony had one vote and delegates adopted a statement of rights and principles including 'life, liberty, and property'.

Second Continental Congress

An assembly convening in May 1775 that debated war versus reconciliation with Britain, voted 11–0 for independence on July 2, 1776, and approved the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776.

John Locke

An English philosopher whose classical liberal writings provided the core principles for the Declaration of Independence, arguing that people possess inalienable natural rights and establish government through consent.

Inalienable Rights

Fundamental natural rights inherent to all people that cannot be surrendered or taken away by any government, articulated in the Declaration of Independence as life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Consent of the Governed

The philosophical principle that governments derive their just powers from the agreement of the people, giving citizens the right to alter, abolish, or resist rulers who violate their fundamental purposes.

Articles of Confederation

The compact among the 13 original colonies adopted in 1777 and taking effect March 1, 1781, establishing America's first national framework that jealously guarded state sovereignty.

Shays' Rebellion

An armed uprising from 1786 to 1787 led by Daniel Shays and 1,500 supporters against a western Massachusetts courthouse to protest state taxes and high interest rates bankrupting farmers.

Annapolis Convention

A 1786 gathering in Maryland invited by Virginia to explore commercial regulation revisions, attended by delegates from only five states, who called for a broader convention in Philadelphia.

Independence Hall

The historic building in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania where delegates from twelve states convened in May 1787 to revise the governmental framework and draft the U.S. Constitution.

Virginia Plan

A proposal presented by Edmund Randolph and formulated by James Madison calling for three separate branches, a bicameral legislature apportioned by taxes paid or population, an executive selected by the legislature, and a national judiciary with life tenure.

New Jersey Plan

A constitutional alternative proposing a single-chamber legislature where each state received equal representation, with granted powers to raise revenue, regulate commerce, and establish a supreme tribunal with limited jurisdiction.

Great Compromise

An agreement resolving the representation dispute by establishing a bicameral legislature: a House of Representatives apportioned by population (originally 56 members) and a Senate with equal representation (two senators per state chosen by state legislatures).

Electoral College

A body of electors fashioned at the Constitutional Convention to select the president and vice president for four-year terms, serving as a compromise between congressional selection and direct popular election.

Republicanism

A form of government in which power resides in the people and is exercised through their elected representatives, designed by the framers to avoid both aristocracy and direct democracy.

Federalism

The structural division of governmental power between a central national authority and regional state governments, conferring substantial powers onto the national government at the expense of the states.

Separation of Powers

The constitutional distribution of distinct lawmaking, law-enforcing, and law-interpreting functions into separate, independent branches of government to safeguard individual liberty.

Checks and Balances

The constitutional mechanism that gives each branch of government some scrutiny of and control over the other branches to prevent the exclusive or abusive exercise of power by any single branch.

Article IV of the Constitution

The constitutional article requiring that judicial acts and criminal warrants of each state be honored across state lines and prohibiting states from discriminating against citizens of other states.

Article V of the Constitution

The constitutional article detailing the procedures for amending the Constitution and explicitly guaranteeing that no state can be deprived of its equal representation in the Senate without its consent.

Supremacy Clause

The clause located in Article VI of the U.S. Constitution establishing that the national Constitution and federal laws take precedence over state constitutions and laws.

Publius

The pen name used by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay to publish the 85 essays known as The Federalist Papers in New York newspapers defending the Constitution.

Antifederalists

Opponents of the Constitution who published under pseudonyms such as Brutus and Federal Farmer, arguing that a strong centralized national government would obliterate state authority and destroy individual liberties.

Bill of Rights

The first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution, ratified in 1791 after approval by three-fourths of the states, guaranteeing specific individual freedoms and protections against national authority.