STAAR REVIEW: CONSTITUTION 8TH GRADE

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The Great Compromise

The Great Compromise

The Great Compromise of 1787 established a bicameral legislature with proportional representation in the House and equal representation in the Senate.

Bicameral legislature

A bicameral legislature is a two-house system of government that seeks to provide checks and balances and represent diverse interests.

Legislative branch

The Legislative branch is one of the three branches of government responsible for making laws. It consists of the Congress, which is divided into the Senate and the House of Representatives in the United States.

Judicial branch

The Judicial branch is one of the three branches of government responsible for interpreting laws and ensuring they are applied fairly.

Executive branch

The Executive branch enforces laws made by Congress and is led by the President. It includes federal departments managing national security, foreign affairs, and domestic issues. The President can issue orders, appoint officials, and command the military to ensure the government serves the people.

Bill of Rights

The Bill of Rights refers to the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution, which outline individual rights and freedoms.

New Jersey plan

New Jersey Plan was a proposal at the Constitutional Convention for equal representation of states in Congress, benefiting smaller states.

Virginia plan

The Virginia Plan was a proposal at the Constitutional Convention that called for a strong national government with a bicameral legislature based on population size. It favored larger states and laid the foundation for the structure of the U.S. government.

James Madison

James Madison was the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. He was also known as the "Father of the Constitution" for his important role in drafting and promoting the Constitution of the United States and the Bill of Rights.

Articles of confederation

The Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union was an agreement among the 13 states of the United States, formerly the Thirteen Colonies, that served as the nation's first frame of government.

Shays’ rebellion

Shays' Rebellion was an armed uprising in Massachusetts due to debt crisis and increased tax collection efforts by the state government.

Marbury v Madison

Marbury v. Madison established the power of judicial review, which allows federal courts to declare legislation, executive actions, and administrative actions inconsistent with the U.S. Constitution and therefore nullified.

McCullough v Maryland

The court decided that the Federal Government had the right and power to set up a Federal bank and that states did not have the power to tax the Federal Government.

Gibbson v Ogden

famously expounded upon the powers of the commerce clause, setting the precedent of Congress's broad ability to regulate interstate and some intrastate commerce. The case originated in a dispute over shipping monopolies in New York.

Popular Sovereignty

Popular sovereignty is government based on consent of the people. The government's source of authority is the people, and its power is not legitimate if it disregards the will of the people.

Federalism

Federalism is a system of government in which the same territory is controlled by two levels of government. Generally, an overarching national government is responsible for broader governance of larger territorial areas, while the smaller subdivisions, states, and cities govern the issues of local concern.

Republicanism

Republicanism is a system that replaces or accompanies inherited rule. There is an emphasis on liberty, and a rejection of corruption.

check and balances

provides each branch of government with individual powers to check the other branches and prevent any one branch from becoming too powerful.

anti-federalist

Anti-Federalism was a late-18th-century political movement that opposed the creation of a stronger U.S. federal government and which later opposed the ratification of the 1787 Constitution.

Alexander Hamilton

founding father of the United States, who fought in the American Revolutionary War, helped draft the Constitution, and served as the first secretary of the treasury.