Constitutional Foundations Vocabulary

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms, historical plans, and legal concepts surrounding the U.S. Constitution and early American government.

Republic

A government ruled by representatives of the people.

Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union

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

Unicameral

A one-house legislature.

Shays's Rebellion

A popular uprising against the government of Massachusetts.

Constitutional Convention

A meeting attended by state delegates in 1787 to fix the articles of confederation.

writ of habeas corpus

The right of people detained by the government to know the charges against them.

Bills of attainder

When the legislature declares someone guilty without a trial.

ex post facto laws

Laws punishing people for acts that were not crimes at the time they were committed.

Virginia Plan

A plan of government calling for a three-branch government with a bicameral legislature, where more populous states would have more representation in Congress.

New Jersey Plan

A plan of government that provided for a unicameral legislature with equal votes for each state.

Grand Committee

A committee at the Constitutional Convention that worked out the compromise on representation.

Great (Connecticut) 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 proportionately and a Senate apportioned equally.