Chapter 2: The Constitution

Constitution

Constitution

a document that sets out the fundamental principles of governance and establishes the institutions of 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

Shay’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

Bicameral

a two-house legislature

Three-fifths Compromise

an agreement reached by delegates at the Constitutional Convention that a slave would count as three-fifths of a person in calculating a state’s representation

Compromise on Importation

Congress could not restrict the slave trade until 1808

Separation of Powers

a design of government that distributes powers across institutions in order to avoid making one branch too powerful on its own

Checks and Balances

a design of government in which each branch as powers that can prevent the other branches from making policy

Legislative Branch

the institution responsible for making laws

Enumerated Powers

authority specifically granted to a branch of the government in the Constitution

Executive Branch

the institution responsible for carrying out laws passed by the legislative branch

Judicial Branch

the institution responsible for hearing and deciding cases through the federal courts

Amendment

the process by which changes may be made to the Constitution

Federalists

supporters of the proposed Constitution, who called for a strong national government

Antifederalists

those opposed to the proposed Constitution, who favored stronger state governments

Federalist Papers

a series of eighty-five essays written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay and published between 1787 and 1788 that lay out the theory behind the Constitution

Federalist No. 51

an essay in which Madison argues that separation of powers and federalism will prevent tyranny

Faction

a group of self-interested people who use the government to get what they want, trampling the rights of others in the process

Federalist No. 10

an essay in which Madison argues that the dangers of faction can be mitigated by a large republic and republican government

Brutus No. 1

an Antifederalist Paper arguing that the country was too large to be governed as a republic and that the Constitution gave too much power to the national government