1. The First Amendment states that “Congress shall make no law” restricting freedom of speech, religion, press, assembly, and petition.

2. The Second Amendment guarantees the right of states to organize militias, or armies, and the right of individuals to bear arms.

3. The Third Amendment forbids the government to order private citizens to allow soldiers to live in their homes.

4. The Fourth Amendment requires that warrants be issued if a property is to be searched or seized (taken) by the government.

5. The Fifth Amendment protects an accused person from having to testify against him or herself (self-incrimination); bans double jeopardy, and guarantees that no person will suffer the loss of life, liberty, or property without due process of law.

6. The Sixth Amendment guarantees the right to a speedy public trial by an impartial jury; the right to a lawyer; the right to cross-examine witnesses; and the right to force witnesses at a trial to testify.

7. The Seventh Amendment guarantees the right to a jury trial in civil suits.

8. The Eighth Amendment prohibits cruel and unusual punishment and excessive bail or fines.

9. The Ninth Amendment states that the people have rights other than those specifically mentioned in the Constitution.

10. The Tenth Amendment states that powers not given to the federal government belong to the states.

11. The Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery.

12. The Fourteenth Amendment guarantees citizenship and rights to all people born or naturalized in the United States.

13. The Fifteenth Amendment guarantees the right to vote to all citizens regardless of race.

14. The Great Compromise created two houses of Congress. One based on population, the other gave equal representation to each state.

15. The Magna Carta, signed in 1215 by King John, was the first document that limited power of the ruler by practicing due process.

16. Civil Disobedience is the refusal to obey a government law or laws as a means of passive resistance because of one’s moral conviction or belief.

17. Mercantilism is an economic theory that a country’s strength is measured by the amount of gold it has, that a country should sell more than it buys and that the colonies exist for the benefit of the Mother Country. Government Terms

18. Representative Government is a system of government in which voters elect representatives to make laws for them.

19. The Declaration of Independence was a document written by Thomas Jefferson on July 4, 1776. It declared the colonies independence from England.

20. A Republic is a nation in which voters choose representatives to govern them.

21. The Three Branches of Government are the Legislative Branch, the

Judicial Branch, and the Executive branch.

22. Checks and Balances is a system set up by the Constitution in which each

branch of the federal government has the power to check, or control, the

actions of the other branches.

23. Federalism is the sharing of power between the states and the national

government

24. Amend means to change.

25. Ratify means to approve by vote.

26. Judicial Review is the right of the Supreme Court to judge laws passed

by Congress and determine whether they are constitutional or not.

27. The Articles of Confederation was the first American constitution. It

was a very weak document that limited the power of Congress by

giving states the final authority over all decisions.

28. The Constitution of the United States sets out the structure and

principles of the government of the United States. This document was

written in 1787.

29. The Bill of Rights is the first ten amendments to the Constitution and

detail the protection of individual liberties.

30. James Madison is considered to be the “Father of the Constitution”.

31. Bicameral is consisting of two houses, or chambers, especially in a

legislature.

32. Suffrage is the right to vote.

33. Unalienable rights are rights that cannot be given up, taken away, or

transferred. Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are some of those

rights.

34. Popular Sovereignty is the idea that political authority belongs to the

people.

35. Tyranny is a cruel and unjust government.

Early Statehood

36. Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence; which became the

3rd President of the United States and purchased the Louisiana territory

from France in 1803, doubling the size of the United States.

37. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ended the Mexican War. The US

gained land through the Mexican Cession.

38. Texas was annexed in 1845 by the United States. This was one of the

causes of war with Mexico.

39. Manifest Destiny is the belief that the United States should own all of

the land between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

Civil War Terms

40. The first shots of the Civil War were fired at Fort Sumter,in South

Carolina.

41. The Civil War was fought from 1861-1865.

42. States’ Rights is the theory that states had rights that the federal

government could not violate and that states could nullify federal laws.

43. A tariff is a tax on imported goods brought into a country.

44. Sectionalism is a strong sense of loyalty to a state or section instead of

to the whole country.

45. Jefferson Davis was the President of the Confederacy during the Civil

War.

46. Ulysses S. Grant was the General of the Union Army and was responsible

for winning the Civil War for the North.

47. Robert E. Lee was the General of the Confederate Army

48. Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States who

successfully put the Union back together only to be assassinated 5 days

after the Civil War ended.

49. Harriet Tubman was an escaped slave who became a Conductor on the

Underground Railroad and helped over 300 slaves to freedom in the

North.

50. Dred Scott v. Sanford was the Supreme Court decision that said slaves

were property and not citizens.

51. Harriet Beecher Stowe helped fuel the abolitionist movement in 1852 by

writing Uncle Tom’s Cabin. The book shined a light on the horrors of

slavery.

52. The Battle of Gettysburg was the turning point in the Civil War for the

North. Confederate troops were forced to retreat and never invade the

North again.

53. The Gettysburg Address was a short speech given by Abraham Lincoln to

dedicate a cemetery for soldiers who died at the Battle of Gettysburg.

It is considered to be a profound statement of American ideals.

54. The capture of Vicksburg, Mississippi by the North in 1863 effectively

split the Confederacy in two and gave control of the Mississippi River to

the Union.

55. Appomattox Court House is the small town in Virginia where Lee

surrendered the Confederate Army to Grant ending the Civil War.

56. Frederick Douglass was a former slave who became the best known black

abolitionist in the country. He is known for being a great speaker.

57. Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1,

1863, setting all slaves in the Confederate states free.

58. Lincoln’s First Inaugural Address stated that, “no state…can lawfully get

out of the Union”, but pledged there would be no war unless the South

started it.

59. Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address was meant to help heal and restore

the country after four years of Civil War.

60. Antietam, Maryland was the bloodiest single day battle of the Civil War,

halting the first Confederate attack on Northern soil. Lincoln declared