Unit 2 (10) Study Guide

Vocabulary terms and key definitions derived from the Topic Test C on establishing the United States from 1781 to 1789.

Articles of Confederation (Article III)

A agreement where states entered into a "firm league of friendship" for common defense, security of liberties, and mutual and general welfare.

State Constitutions (Democratic and Conservative)

Documents that established participation in republics by extending the right to vote to white males, most often property owners.

Northwest Territory Settlement

Settlements in the years after the Revolution where defense was a central concern for those who settled the land.

British Mercantilism

An economic system that hindered American commerce by blocking merchants from trading with some of the United States’ closest neighbors.

Daniel Shay, Luke Day, Adam Wheeler and Eli Parsons

Proclaimed rebels mentioned in a $1787$ Pennsylvania proclamation for their roles in uprisings like Shays’ Rebellion.

Shays’ Rebellion (Debt Outcome)

An uprising that some states avoided by forgiving farmer debts, which subsequently caused creditors to lose money.

James Bowdoin

The Governor of Massachusetts who in January $12, 1787$ used the term "domestick slavery" to refer to the tyranny of the majority or internal insurrections.

Constitutional Convention Consensus

The general agreement among nearly all delegates that the powers of the national government needed to be expanded.

Virginia and New Jersey Plans

Two different proposals at the Constitutional Convention that differed on the number of representatives each state would have in Congress.

U.S. Constitution, Article I, Section 9

A provision stated that the migration or importation of persons shall not be prohibited by Congress prior to the year $1808$, though a tax up to $10$ dollars per person could be imposed.

Ratification Patterns

The process of approving the Constitution which saw more opposition in states that ratified later (like Rhode Island at $34–32$) than in early states like Delaware ($30–0$).

James Lincoln

A speaker in the South Carolina legislature during $1788$ who opposed the Constitution because it gave power to men located "one thousand miles distant."

Federalist Papers No. 51

An essay arguing that the interior structure of the government must be contrived so its constituent parts keep each other in their proper places.

Antifederalist Impact

Their influence ensured that individual liberties were protected by the inclusion of the Bill of Rights in the organization of the U.S. government.

Checks and Balances

The constitutional principle where the president can veto laws and Congress can override that veto with a two-thirds majority vote.

Popular Sovereignty

A principle most directly related to the House of Representatives within the federal government structure.

Democratic Patriots

A group that advocated for the expansion of voting rights during the formation of the new nation.

Northwest Ordinance of 1787

A plan for settling the Northwest Territory intended to raise revenues to support the federal government.

Three-Fifths Clause

A constitutional compromise reached partly because almost half of the delegates at the Constitutional Convention were slaveholders.

It prohibited slavery in the Northwest Territory, ensuring future states from that region entered as free states.

What was the primary rule regarding slavery in the Northwest Ordinance of 1787?

Without tax revenue or enforcement power over state contributions, the government couldn't pay war debts, fund a military, or maintain a functioning bureaucracy.

Why was the lack of taxing power considered the worst flaw of the Articles of Confederation?

The Federalists, who argued it demonstrated the need for a stronger central government capable of maintaining national order.

Which political group used Shays' Rebellion to support their vision for government?

1. Creating the Senate to check the House.

2. Establishing the Electoral College for indirect presidential elections.

Name two ways the Framers limited direct majority rule in the Constitution.

two-thirds of both houses of Congress to propose; three-fourths of the states to ratify.

What fraction of votes is needed to propose and ratify a Constitutional Amendment?