APGOPO Unit 1 thru Constitution

Articles of Confederation

1st Constitution of the U.S. 1781-1788 (weaknesses-no executive, no judicial, no power to tax, no power to regulate trade)

Checks and Balances

A system that allows each branch of government to limit the powers of the other branches in order to prevent abuse of power

Separation of Powers

Constitutional division of powers among the legislative, executive, and judicial branches, with the legislative branch making law, the executive applying and enforcing the law, and the judiciary interpreting the law

Popular Sovereignty

A government in which the people rule by their own consent.

Federlism

the principal of dividing power between the federal goverment and the states

Supremacy Clause

Federal law is supreme over state law

Connecticut Compromise/Great Compomise

Compromise agreement by states at the Constitutional Convention for a bicameral legislature with a lower house in which representation would be based on population and an upper house in which each state would have two senators.

Republicanism

A philosophy of limited government with elected representatives serving at the will of the people.

Natural Rights

all people have certain rights that cannot be taken away

Declaration of Independence

the document officially separating the US from Great Britain- pushed idea of popular sovereignty and individual rights

Electoral College Compromise

Created a body of electors to choose the president and vice president.

Three-Fifths Compromise

Agreement that each slave counted as three-fifths of a person in determining representation in the House for representation and taxation purposes (negated by the 13th amendment)

Full Faith and Credit Clause

Constitution's requirement that each state accept the public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other state