Natural Rights - the rights given to all humans, simply for the sake of being human.

Social Contract -  The people agree to give up certain rights to accept a central authority which will protect all their rights

Popular Sovereignty - a doctrine in political theory that government is created by and subject to the will of the people

Republicanism - a theory of government that emphasizes the participation of citizens for the common good of the community.

Participatory Democracy - democracy in which citizens have the power to decide directly on policy and politicians are responsible for implementing those policy decisions.

Pluralist Theory - A theory of government and politics emphasizing that politics is mainly a competition among groups, each one pressing for its own preferred policies.

Elitist Theory - power is concentrated, elites are unified, non-elites are diverse and powerless, elite interested are unified due to common backgrounds and power is institutional position.

Articles of Confederation - the agreement made by the original 13 states in 1777 establishing a confederacy to be known as the United States of America

Shay’s Rebellion - uprising in western Massachusetts in opposition to high taxes and stringent economic conditions.

Constitutional Convention - A convention of delegates from all the states except Rhode Island met in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in May of 1787

Virginia Plan - James Madison's Virginia Plan outlined a strong national government with three branches: legislative, executive, and judicial

New Jersey Plan - proposed a unicameral (one-house) legislature with equal votes of states and an executive elected by a national legislature

Great Compromise - promised the creation of a bicameral legislature composed of the House of Representatives and the Senate

Bicameral - a government structure involving two houses, or two legislative bodies, that are separate in deliberation from one another.

Three-Fifths Compromise - It determined that three out of every five slaves was counted when determining a state's total population for legislative representation and taxation.

Compromise of Importation - allowing the transatlantic slave trade to continue for 20 years