AP Government Required Foundational Documents Review

This set of flashcards covers the key concepts, definitions, and themes found in the AP Government Required Foundational Documents Review Sheet, following the Vocabulary style.

Federalist 10

An essay arguing that a strong, united republic is more effective than individual states at controlling "factions" because a large republic with more representatives ensures a greater number of opinions, making a majority oppression less likely.

Factions

Groups mentioned in Federalist 10 that a large republic helps control by ensuring that one majority is far less likely to oppress the rest of the people.

Brutus I

An Antifederalist series of essays that encouraged New Yorkers to reject the proposed Constitution, arguing that the federal government's immense power requires people to sacrifice their liberties and that a free republic cannot exist in such a large territory.

Declaration of Independence

A foundational document stating that all people are created equal with Natural Rights to Life, Liberty, and Property, and that the People have a duty to change or destroy a government that fails to protect these rights.

Natural Rights

The rights of Life, Liberty, and Property which the Declaration of Independence states governments are created to protect.

Articles of Confederation

A document establishing a confederation of states with an extremely limited central government, a unicameral legislature with one vote per state, no President, and no Judiciary.

Unicameral legislature

The single-chamber legislative body established by the Articles of Confederation where each state had one vote.

Constitution

A blueprint for a limited government that emerged from debates over the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation, outlining a federal system with three branches and a Bill of Rights.

Separation of Powers

A constitutional principle where government power is divided among three branches: Legislative, Executive, and Judicial.

Checks and Balances

A system where the three branches of government can limit each other's power to prevent any one branch from becoming too dominant.

Ninth Amendment

A part of the Bill of Rights stating that rights not specifically listed in the Constitution are not denied to the People.

Tenth Amendment

An amendment stating that powers not given to the Federal Government nor denied to the states are reserved as State Powers.

Federalist 51

An essay proposing a government broken into three self-sufficient branches that use their power to keep each other from taking over the government, including a split of the Legislative branch into the House of Representatives and the Senate.

Federalist 70

An essay arguing for a unitary executive branch to provide "energy" through decision, activity, secrecy, and dispatch, while maintaining "safety" through accountability to the people.

Federalist 78

An essay arguing that the Judiciary is the "weakest of the three departments" and requires strengthening through an independent status and lifetime appointments to resist encroachments from the legislature.

Judicial Review

A powerful judicial practice mentioned as an outcome of the design and independence of the judicial branch described in Federalist 78.

Letter from a Birmingham Jail

A document by Martin Luther King Jr. arguing that the oppressed have a duty to fight for justice, demand equality, and a moral obligation to oppose unjust and immoral laws like segregation.

White moderates

The group Martin Luther King Jr. identifies as the biggest obstacle to racial equality because they prefer a "paternalistic" attitude and the belief that time, rather than human intervention, will be the equalizer.