Topic 2 Vocab American Government

Magna Carta

States the King does not have total power

Due process

The guarantee that life, liberty, or property can be taken only through an orderly process and not the whim of a ruler.

Petition of Right

Challenged the divine right of kings, declaring that even monarchs must obey the law of the land.

English Bill of Rights

Prohibited monarchs from keeping an army during peacetime and made many royal actions subject to consent of the Parliament.

Charter

A written grant of authority from the king

Proprietary

Colonies organized by a proprietor, or owner, who was granted land by the king.

Bicameral

(Two-house) legislatures

Delegates

Representatives

Popular sovereignty

Governments get their power to rule only from the consent of the people

Articles of Confederation

A plan to set up a government that tied the States together in a loose union.

Ratification

Formal approval

Framers

The delegates, or representatives, who attended the Philadelphia meeting

Virginia Plan

It had three separate branches of government. It proposed a Congress with much more power over the States.

New Jersey Plan

This plan called for a government that was closer to the existing Articles of Confederation.

Federalists

Favored ratification

Anti-Federalists

Strongly opposed ratification