Magruderś American Government Ch. 2 (Perry)

Magna Carta (1215)

An English document draw up by nobles under King John which limited the power of the king. It has influenced later constitutional documents in Britain and America.

Limited Government

The idea that certain restrictions should be placed on government to protect the natural rights of citizens.

Representative Government

Power is held by the people and exercised through the efforts of representatives elected by the people.

due process of law

fair treatment through the normal judicial system and protection against someone randomly taking away life, liberty, or property

Petition of Right

Document prepared by Parliament and signed by King Charles I of England in 1628; challenged the idea of the divine right of kings and declared that even the monarch was subject to the laws of the land

English Bill of Rights

King William and Queen Mary accepted this document in 1689. It guaranteed certain rights to English citizens and declared that elections for Parliament would happen frequently. By accepting this document, they supported a limited monarchy, a system in which they shared their power with Parliament and the people.

charter

A document that gives the holder the right to organize colonies in an area

Royal Colony

A colony under the direct control of a monarch

Proprietary Colony

a colony owned and ruled by one person who was chosen by a king or queen

Charter Colony

colony established by a group of settlers who had been given a formal document allowing them to settle by the king, but governed themselves and much more democratic

Bicameral

A legislature consisting of two parts, or houses

Unicameral

One-house legislature

William Penn and Lord Baltimore

Examples of proprietors that were given land to organize in the Americas by the king of England.

Confederation

an alliance of independent states

Delegates

A person who is chosen or elected to represent a person or group

duties

Taxes on imported goods

1st Continental Congress

On September 1774, delegates from 12 colonies gathered in Philadelphia. After debating, the delegates passed a resolution backing Mass. in its struggle. Decided to boycott all British goods and to stop exporting goods to Britain until the Intolerance Act was canceled.

2nd Continental Congress

Congress of American leaders which first met in 1775, declared independence in 1776, and helped lead the United States during the Revolution

George Washington

1st President of the United States; commander-in-chief of the Continental Army during the American Revolution (1732-1799)

Thomas Jefferson

Author of the Declaration of Independence

John Locke

English philosopher who advocated the idea of a "social contract" in which government powers are derived from the consent of the governed and in which the government serves the people; also said people have natural rights to life, liberty and property.

Popular Sovereignty

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

Civil Rights and LIberties

This principle of government makes it clear that the people hold certain rights, given by God and that governments cannot take away or refuse to respect

Separation of Powers

the division of power among the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of government

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)

Ratification

Formal approval, final consent to the effectiveness of a constitution, constitutional amendment, or treaty

Daniel Shays

Head of Shay's Rebellion; he and several other angry farmers violently protested against debtor's jail; eventually crushed; aided in the creation of constitution because land owners now wanted to preserve what was theirs from "mobocracy"

Shay's Rebellion

Rebellion led by Daniel Shays of farmers in western Massachusetts in 1786-1787, protesting mortgage foreclosures. It highlighted the need for a strong national government just as the call for the Constitutional Convention went out.

Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, John Adams

Leading Federalists who played a key role in writing the Constitution and supported a strong central government.

George Mason, Patrick Henry, and Thomas Jefferson

Leading Anti-federalists who played a key role in fighting for states to retain some of their power and also fought to include a Bill of Rights in the constitution.

Quorum

The minimum number of members who must be present for business to be conducted in Congress

Virginia Plan

Virginia delegate James Madison's plan of government, in which states got a number of representatives in Congress based on their population

New Jersey Plan

A constitutional proposal that would have given each state one vote in a new congress

Veto

Chief executive's power to reject a bill passed by a legislature

Connecticut Compromise

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.

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)

Commerce and Slave Trade Compromise

an agreement during the Constitutional Convention protecting slave holders; denied Congress the power to tax the export of goods from any State, and, for 20 years, the power to act on the slave trade

Federalist

A term used to describe supporters of the Constitution during ratification debates in state legislatures.

Anti-Federlist

SOMEONE WHO WAS AGAINST HAVING THE CONSTION BUT WAS FOR THE BILL OF RIGHTS

Why did the Articles of Confederation fail?

The document placed too many limits on governmental power and was too weak to allow any kind of unity or consistency between the states.

Why was the Bill of Rights added to the Constitution?

Many of the early representatives did not like the amount of power that was given to the government through the constitution and so they required that a list of individual protections be added to help ensure that abuse of power would not happen and people individual rights would be protected.

Boston Tea Party

A 1773 protest against British taxes in which Boston colonists disguised as Mohawks dumped valuable tea into Boston Harbor.

Boston Massacre

incident in 1770 in which British troops fired on and killed American colonists who were against the presence of English troops in their city

Why were the Articles of Confederation purposefully written to be weak with no central authority?

The American representatives did not want the new government to be too powerful and so they did not give the Articles of Confederation any power that they could use to abuse the citizens.