Chapter 6: The Constitutional Convention & Shaping a New Republic - AP U.S. HISTORY

Flashcards covering key vocabulary terms and concepts from Chapter 6: The Constitutional Convention and Shaping a New Republic, including intellectual influences, compromises, the emergent political system, and early presidential challenges.

The Federalist Papers

A series of essays written by James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay attempting to calm anxieties about the powers granted to the central government under the Constitution and advocate for its ratification.

Influence of the Classics on Founders

During the Revolutionary era, ancient history (like Rome and Greek confederacies) provided precedents and lessons for the founders in shaping the new federal government, particularly in creating a mixed government and strengthening the federal structure.

Enlightenment Philosophy

Intellectual ideas, especially from thinkers like John Locke, that influenced the Framers' understanding of natural law, human behavior, and government as a social contract, leading to principles like separation of powers, checks and balances, and federalism in the U.S. Constitution.

Who wanted a more centralized government? (Constitutional Convention)

Wealthiest and most powerful groups, some military personnel, American manufacturers, merchants, shippers, land speculators, and large property owners (especially after Shays's Rebellion) sought a stronger central government to address economic problems, uniform tariffs, Indian removal, and protection from mobs.

Core conflicts of the Constitutional Convention (1787)

Conflicts included bankers vs. debtors, northern (commercial) vs. southern (rural slave) economic interests, economic competition between states, supporters of a strong central government vs. supporters of individual and states’ rights, and slave states versus non-slave states.

Dilemma of the Constitutional Convention

To design a strong central government with sufficient powers for economic development and foreign policy, while safeguarding individual liberties and preventing a tyranny of both the majority and the minority.

Virginia Plan

A proposal at the Constitutional Convention calling for a lower house of Congress elected by the people, which in turn would elect members to an upper house, favoring larger states with more population.

New Jersey Plan

A proposal at the Constitutional Convention calling for a unicameral legislature with each state receiving one vote, favoring smaller states by ensuring equal representation.

Great Compromise (Connecticut Compromise)

An agreement reached at the Constitutional Convention that established a bicameral legislature: representation in the House of Representatives based on population, and equal representation in the Senate with two senators for each state.

Commerce Compromise

An agreement that gave the federal government control over foreign and interstate trade, authority to collect import taxes (but no duties on exports), and permitted the importation of slaves for twenty years until 1808.

Three-Fifths Compromise

An agreement at the Constitutional Convention to count three-fifths of a state’s slave population for purposes of both taxation and representation in the House of Representatives. It also included a fugitive slave law.

Significance of the Three-Fifths Clause

This clause had a profound impact on national history, giving the South virtual control of all three branches of the federal government (Presidential selection, electoral votes, judiciary appointments) until the Civil War, enhancing their political power.

The Constitution as a 'Bundle of Compromises'

A description of the U.S. Constitution by many Americans in 1787, reflecting the numerous agreements and concessions made between differing factions, which left both supporters and opponents unsatisfied with certain aspects of the document.

Federalists

Those who advocated for the ratification of the new U.S. Constitution and a strong central government. Prominent leaders included Washington, Hamilton, Madison, and Franklin.

Anti-Federalists

Opponents of the ratification of the U.S. Constitution, who feared a strong central government would lead to tyranny and demanded a Bill of Rights to protect individual liberties. Prominent leaders included Patrick Henry, John Hancock, and George Mason.

Federalist Fears

A fear of disorder, anarchy, chaos, and the unchecked power of the masses, leading them to advocate for a strong government capable of maintaining peace and stability.

Anti-Federalist Fears

A fear of the dangers of concentrated power in a central government, rather than the dangers of popular will, leading them to oppose the Constitution without a Bill of Rights.

Publius

The pseudonym used by James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay when writing The Federalist Papers, chosen to evoke ancient Roman republicanism and signify their arguments for a strong, well-structured republic akin to Publius Valerius' role in establishing republican government in Rome.

Brutus and Cato

Pseudonyms adopted by Anti-Federalists during the ratification debates, intended to cast the Constitution's supporters as monarchical and oligarchic, just as the historical figures Brutus and Cato the Younger had opposed tyrannical rulers like Julius Caesar.

Federalist No. 10

An essay by James Madison arguing that a strong, large republic would be a better guard against 'factions' (groups with interests contrary to others or the community) than individual states, by diluting their influence across a wider populace.

Federalist No. 51

An essay by James Madison addressing the means by which appropriate checks and balances can be created in government and advocating for a separation of powers within the national government to preserve liberty.

The Disease of Faction

A concept described in The Federalist Papers where political science diagnoses and offers prescriptions for political illnesses, viewing factions (especially those driven by self-interest and partisanship over reason) as threats to the common good and republican government.

U.S. Constitution (Original Framework)

A document that created a new framework for American development, establishing a national economic market, national political institutions, reduced state powers, and limits on popular democracy, but initially omitted specific guarantees for individual freedoms.

Bill of Rights

The first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution, added in 1791, providing specific guarantees by the national government such as freedom of religion, speech, press, petition, and assembly, protection against unreasonable searches and seizures, and protections in criminal procedures.

James Madison's Role in Bill of Rights

Madison led the effort to push the Bill of Rights through the first Congress, addressing critics' concerns about the Constitution's omission of individual rights guarantees, solidifying it as a significant achievement in American history.

The Bill of Rights as a 'Second Constitution'

For many Americans, the Bill of Rights is a vital component of the Constitution, announcing national values and ensuring government honors rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, serving as a critical check on governmental power.

Newburgh Conspiracy (1783)

A cabal of army officers at the end of the Revolutionary War who were prepared to act against Congress for failing to meet its financial obligations to the military. George Washington diffused the conspiracy, enhancing his reputation for republican devotion.

Alexander Hamilton's Economic Plan (Aims)

Aimed to establish the nation’s financial stability, gain support from powerful financial interests, and encourage economic development, with a long-term goal of making the U.S. a major commercial and military power, modeled after Great Britain.

Funding at Par

A component of Hamilton's economic plan where the federal government would pay off all its outstanding debts (domestic and foreign) at their face value plus accumulated interest, thereby bolstering national credit.

Assumption of State Debts

A component of Hamilton's economic plan where the federal government would take on the states' debts incurred during the Revolutionary War, thereby chaining the states more tightly to the federal government and unifying national credit.

Report on Public Credit

Hamilton's proposal for the U.S. to pay off its domestic and foreign debts at face value and for all states to share in the burden of war debt, which eventually secured Southern support by relocating the national capital to the Potomac.

Report on Manufactures

Hamilton's proposal for the development of manufacturing in the U.S. through tariffs, loans, and grants for businesses, excise taxes, and infrastructural development to raise revenue and aid industries.

Loose Interpretation of the Constitution

The view, championed by Alexander Hamilton, that the Constitution permitted what it did not forbid, allowing Congress to pass any laws 'necessary and proper' (implied powers) for carrying out its enumerated responsibilities, as argued for the creation of a national bank.

Strict Interpretation of the Constitution

The view, championed by Thomas Jefferson, that the Constitution forbade what it did not explicitly permit, insisting that all powers not specifically granted to the central government were reserved for the states, thus opposing the creation of a national bank.

Judicial Liberals

Contemporary legal interpreters who believe the Constitution should be given a broader reach and that it is a 'living Constitution' that evolves with changing times, examining words and intent but adapting them to modern contexts to ensure relevancy.

Judicial Conservatives

Contemporary legal interpreters who look primarily at the Constitution's words, context, and history to understand the original intent of its framers, believing the document should be interpreted as it was originally understood.

First Party System

The period in American politics (crystallized by 1796) marked by the emergence of two increasingly coherent political parties: the Federalists, led by Alexander Hamilton, and the Democratic-Republicans (or Republicans), led by James Madison and Thomas Jefferson.

Federalist Party (First Party System)

Political party led by Adams, Hamilton, and Marshall; associated with aristocracy, encouraging industry, favoring an alliance with Great Britain, and championing a strong central government at the expense of individual states.

Democratic-Republican Party (First Party System)

Political party led by Jefferson and Madison; associated with the masses, encouraging agriculture, favoring an alliance with France, and championing a weak central government in favor of strengthening the states.

American Response to French Revolution

Most Americans, especially Democratic-Republicans, welcomed the French Revolution, while wealthy Americans and many Federalists condemned its radicalism, leading to a domestic divide and President Washington's Proclamation of Neutrality in 1793.

Whiskey Rebellion (1794)

A domestic insurgency in western Pennsylvania sparked by Alexander Hamilton’s excise tax on whiskey, where farmers protested the tax collectors and direct taxation, similar to earlier rebellions against distant governments.

Haitian Revolution (1791-1804)

A slave uprising in Haiti that led to the establishment of Haiti as an independent nation, horrifying Jeffersonians who supported the French Revolution but not a slave revolt, yet affirming the universal creed of liberty and inspiring hope among U.S. slaves.

Toussaint Louverture

A Haitian general and prominent leader of the Haitian Revolution, well-read in classical texts, who fought for Haitian independence against French rule, demonstrating the influence of revolutionary ideals.

Neutrality Proclamation of 1793

Issued by President George Washington, declaring the United States neutral in the conflict between France and Great Britain, allowing U.S. citizens to trade with all belligerents and pledging mutual friendship and trade.

Citizen Genet Affair

An incident in which Edmond Genet, a French ambassador to the U.S., ignored Washington’s Neutrality Proclamation and continued to pursue an alliance with the U.S., attempting to recruit American privateers to attack British ships.

Jay's Treaty (1794)

A treaty negotiated by Chief Justice John Jay that avoided war with Britain by accepting British naval and commercial supremacy and implicitly endorsing a pro-English neutrality. Britain agreed to withdraw troops from the Ohio Valley and address merchant claims, while the U.S. agreed to pay pre-revolutionary debts and grant 'most-favored' status to British imports.

Pinckney's Treaty (1795)

A treaty between the U.S. and Spain that granted Americans access to the Mississippi River and the right of deposit in New Orleans, in exchange for promises of nonaggression in the West, crucial for western settlers and trade.

U.S. Government Policy on Indian Lands

After the Revolutionary War, the U.S. asserted sovereignty and ownership over the trans-Appalachian west, intending to encourage white settlement through removal, disappearance, or 'incorporation into white civilization' of the Indian population.

Little Turtle’s War

Open warfare in the Ohio Valley where Western Confederacy warriors, led by Little Turtle, inflicted the costliest loss ever suffered by the United States Army at the hands of Indians in 1790-1791, prompting Washington to double the U.S. Army size.

Treaty of Greenville (1795)

A treaty under which the Miami Confederacy agreed to cede territory in the Old Northwest (present-day Ohio and parts of Indiana) to the U.S. in exchange for cash payment, hunting rights, and recognition of sovereignty, following Little Turtle's War.

Washington's Farewell Address

George Washington's final message to the nation upon his retirement, representing his accumulated life lessons and warning against political factions, sectionalism, and foreign entanglements (permanent alliances), advocating for national independence and integrity.

Constitutional Presidency (Washington's Precedents)

George Washington's actions during his two terms established enduring precedents for the executive office, shaping the character and breadth of presidential authority, including the tradition of a two-term limit (unbroken until 1940).

John Adams Presidency

The second U.S. president, who signed the controversial Alien and Sedition Acts, built up the army and navy during the undeclared 'Quasi-War' with France, and despite criticism, is credited with pushing for peace with France, which later facilitated the Louisiana Purchase.

XYZ Affair (1797)

An incident during Adams's presidency where American negotiators in France were rebuffed for refusing to pay a substantial bribe demanded by French officials (referred to as X, Y, and Z), leading to an undeclared naval 'Quasi-War' between the two nations.

Alien and Sedition Acts (1798)

A series of security acts passed by the Federalist-controlled Congress during Adams's presidency, aimed at Irish and French immigrants and silencing Democratic-Republican critics. They extended residency requirements for citizenship, allowed the expulsion of aliens, and banned public criticism of the government.

Alien Act (1798)

Part of the Alien and Sedition Acts, which extended the time required for foreigners to become American citizens from five to fourteen years and gave the president the power to expel aliens deemed dangerous.

Sedition Act (1798)

Part of the Alien and Sedition Acts, which prohibited any person from writing, publishing, or uttering anything of a 'false, scandalous and malicious' nature against the government, president, or Congress, used predominantly to suppress Democratic-Republican newspapers.

Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions (1798)

Resolutions written anonymously by James Madison and Thomas Jefferson in response to the Alien and Sedition Acts, proclaiming them null and void in those states and asserting the principle that states had the right to determine the constitutionality of federal laws, starting a debate over federal vs. state authority.

Civil Liberties During Wartime

A recurring theme in U.S. history where the demands of war lead to debates about the suppression of dissent, the loyalty of non-citizens, and the distinction between 'real' necessities of war and partisan exploitation, challenging the commitment to 'freedom of speech' and constitutional rights.

Revolution of 1800

The election of 1800, in which Thomas Jefferson (Democratic-Republican) defeated John Adams (Federalist), marking the first peaceful transfer of power between opposing political parties in U.S. history and proving the new nation's viability.

Three-Fifths Clause (1800 Election Impact)

The clause, which counted three-fifths of enslaved people for representation, significantly increased the South's electoral votes, making Jefferson's victory in the 1800 election possible; without it, John Adams would have likely been reelected.