Origins of American Government Vocabulary

Bicameral

Bicameral

consisting of two houses

Magna Carta

(1215) a charter agreed to by King John of England that granted nobles certain rights and restricted the king's powers

Petition Right

(1628) a document signed by Charles I of England that limited the powers of the English monarch

English Bill of Rights

document signed by King William that stated that English monarchs would no longer be able to enact laws, raise taxes, or keep an army without Parliament's consent 1689

Fundamental Orders of Connecticut

a framework of laws agreed to by settlers of the Connecticut colonies that put limits on the power of government and gave all free men the right to choose judges

Proprietary Colonies

a colony that was based on a grant of land by the English monarch to a proprietor, or owner, in exchange for a yearly payment

Royal Colonies

colonies directly controlled by the English king through appointed governors who served as the colonies' chief executive

Charter Colonies

colonies based on a grant of land by the British Crown to a company or a group of settlers

New England Confederation

an alliance formed in 1643 by the Plymouth, Connecticut, Massachusetts Bay, and New Haven colonies in order to defend themselves from threats posed by Native Americans and by settlers from nearby Dutch colonies

Iriquois Confederation

an alliance of six Native American nations (the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca, and Tuscarora) formed in 1570 to end wars between the nations and to stand together to resist European takeover

Albany Plan of Union

first plan for uniting the colonies; proposed by Ben Franklin 1754

Stamp Act

(1765) law passed by the English Parliament that required a government tax stamp on paper goods and all legal documents, such as contracts and licenses

First Contimental Congress

a meeting of colonial delegates in Philadelphia to decide how to respond to the abuses of authority by the British government 1774

Second Contimental Congress

a colony that was based on a grant of land by the English monarch to a proprietor, or owner, in exchange for a yearly payment

Virginia Decloration of Rights

(1776) a declaration of citizens' rights issued by the Virginia Convention

Articles of Confederation

(1777) the document that created the first central government for the United States; it was replaced by the Constitution in 1789

Ratified

formally approved

Northwest Ordinance

(1787) legislation passed by Congress to establish a plan for settling the Northwest Territory, which included areas that are now in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Minnesota, and Wisconsin

Shay's Rebelion

(1786-1787) the revolt led by former Revolutionary War captain Daniel Shays to prevent judges in Massachusetts from foreclosing on the farms of farmers who could not pay taxes the state had levied

Farmers

a meeting of colonial delegates in Philadelphia to decide how to respond to the abuses of authority by the British government

Virginia Plan

(1787) the plan for government in which the national government would have supreme power and a legislative branch would have two houses with representation determined by state population

New Jersey Plan

(1787) a proposal to created a unicameral legislature with equal representation of states instead of representation by population

Great Compromise

(1787) an agreement worked out at the Constitutional Convention establishing that a state's population would determine representation in the lower house of the legislature, while each state would have equal representation in the upper house

3/5 Compromise

(1787) an agreement stating that three-fifths of the slave population would be counted when determining a state's population for representation in the lower house of Congress

Federalists

group of people who supported the adoption of the U.S. Constitution and a strong national government

Antifederalists

a group of people who opposed the adoption of the U.S. Constitution

Publuis

the pen name that Framers Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay used when writing the Federalist Papers; Latin for "public man"

Federalist Papers

collection of essays on the principles of government written in defense of the Constitution in 1787 and 1788

Bill of Rights

the first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution concerning basic individual liberties