The critical period

Articles of

Confederation

First written plan of government for the United States; the states were given more

power than the national government; Congress had no power to tax and no power to

raise an army (1781)

Land Ordinance of 1785

Successful plan for selling western lands in order to collect revenue as a result of

the debt of the Revolution. Also set aside lands for the creation of public schools

in America

Northwest Ordinance of

1787

Successful plan for admitting new states to the Union. Also prevented slavery from

existing in the Northwest Territory

Critical Period

Time between 178-1789 in which the new United States had many challenges to

overcome because we were the first democracy in the modern world

Shays’ Rebellion

Daniel Shays led a group of farmers in Massachusetts in a protest against debt

collection after the Revolution; stopped by Massachusetts militia, but revealed the

weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation because the U.S. had no power to raise

an army to stop the rebellion. This rebellion led to the Constitutional Convention

(1787)

Constitutional

Convention

Meeting in Philadelphia May- September 1787 in which delegates from the new United

States met to revise the Articles of Confederation in order to give more power to the

central government

“A Bundle of

Compromises”

The Constitution is often referred to as this because many compromises were made

between large and small states as well as North and South in order to create it

Virginia Plan

Plan at the Constitutional Convention that proposed Congress be a bicameral legislature

and representation by state being based on population only

New Jersey Plan

Plan at the Constitutional Convention that proposed Congress as a unicameral legislature

and representation by state be equal regardless of state population

The Great Compromise

Compromise at Constitutional convention that created Congress- bicameral legislature:

the House of Representatives would be based on population, the Senate would be based

on equal representation (2 Senators per state)

Census

An official count of the population taken every 10 years in each state to determine

representation in the House of Representatives and the Electoral college

Three-Fifths

Compromise

Compromise between Northern and Southern states; enslaved people would count as ⅗ of

a person for representation purposes

Commerce Compromise

Compromise in which Congress would have sole power of regulation of interstate

commerce, Congress could not tax a state’s exports, Congress could not interfere in the

slave trade for 20 years

Ratification

Official method of approving the Constitution; Nine out of 13 states would have to

approve it to become law

The Federalist Papers

A series of 85 essays written anonymously by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and

John Jay defending the Constitution in order to persuade Virginia and New York to

ratify it (1788)

Federalists

Group of individuals led by Hamilton and Madison who believed that a strong central

government was necessary and that a Bill of Rights was not necessary to protect

the people; they were pro- ratification of the Constitution

Antifederalists

Group of individuals led by Jefferson who believed that a strong central

government was tyranny and that a Bill of Rights was necessary to protect the

people; they were anti- ratification of the Constitution without the addition of a Bill

of Rights

Bill of Rights