Chapter 2 Vocab Quiz

Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union

A governing document that created a union of thirteen sovereign states in which the states, not the union, were supreme

Shay’s Rebellion

A popular uprising against the government of Massachusetts. Daniel Shay and 1500 armed farmers marched to Springfield to prevent the state court from foreclosing on farms. The event further demonstrated the weakness of the Articles, leading many skeptics to agree to replace the Articles of Confederation.

Constitutional Convention

A meeting attended by state representatives in 1787 to fix the Articles of Confederation

Virginia Plan

Devised by James Madison, a plan of government calling for a three-branch government with a bicameral legislature, where more populous states would have more representatives in Congress

New Jersey Plan

Devised by New Jersey delegate William Paterson, a plan of government that provided for a unicameral legislature with equal votes for each state

Great Compromise

An agreement for a plan of government that drew upon both the Virginia and New Jersey Plans. It settled issues of state representation by calling for a bicameral legislature with a House of Representatives apportioned appropriately and a Senate apportioned equally.

Three-Fifths Compromise

An agreement reached by delegates at the Constitutional Convention that a slave would count as three-fifths of a person in calculating a state’s representation

Separation of Powers

A design of government that distributes powers across institutions in order to avoid making one branch too powerful on its own

Checks and Balances

A design of government in which each branch has powers that can prevent the other branches from making policy

Federalism

The sharing of power between the national government and the states

Expressed of Enumerated Powers

Authority specifically granted to a branch of the government in the Constitution

Necessary and Proper or Elastic Cause

Language in Article I Section 8 granting Congress the powers necessary to carry out its enumerated powers

Implied Powers

Authority of the federal government that goes beyond its expressed powers; powers not granted specifically to the national government but considered necessary to carry out the enumerated powers

Supremacy Clause

Constitutional provision declaring that the Constitution and all national laws and treaties are the supreme law of the land

Amendment

A constitutional provision for a process by which changes may be made to the Constitution

Federalists

Supporters of the proposed Constitution, who called for a strong government. They pointed to the problems that plagued the government under the Articles—the inability to deal with foreign powers, economic challenges, and the threat of anarchy—and warned citizens that the only way to avoid these dangers was through the new Constitution

Antifederalists

Opposition to the proposed Constitution who favored stronger state governments. They raised fears about what this new change in the government would bring. They mostly argued that it would trample on the rights of the people and the states.

Federalist Papers

A series of 85 essays written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay and published between 1787 and 1788 that lay out the theory behind the Constitution

Federalist 51

An essay in which Madison argues that separation of powers and federalism will prevent tyranny

Federalist 10

An essay in which Madison argues that the dangers of faction can be mitigated by a large republic and republican government

Brutus 1

An Antifederalist paper arguing that the country was too large to be governed as a republic and that the Constitution gave too much power to the national government. They feared that representatives would not relinquish power, the national government held too much economic power to tax and regulate interstate commerce, the federal government’s control of the military could be used to destroy the military, and that the powers of states under the system of federalism would eventually be overtaken by the federal government.