Creating a Nation
The weak original government framework of the U.S. that failed largely because it lacked the power to collect taxes.
What are the Articles of Confederation?
: The policy allowing settlers in a new territory to vote directly on whether to permit slavery.
Answer: What is popular sovereignty?
The constitutional amendment that officially granted citizenship to everyone born in the United States.
What is the 14th Amendment?
The primary document written in 1776 to explain why the 13 colonies were breaking away from Great Britain.
What is the Declaration of Independence?
The constitutional plan that created a two-house legislature, giving larger states more representatives in the House based on population.
What is the Great Compromise?
The strict 1850 law that primarily benefited Southern slaveholders by requiring the return of escaped enslaved individuals.
Answer: What is the Fugitive Slave Act?
Discriminatory laws passed across Southern states after the Civil War specifically to limit the freedom of formerly enslaved people.
What are the Black Codes?
Along with freedom of speech and religion, this essential democratic right is protected under the First Amendment.
What is freedom of the press?
The constitutional principle illustrated when Congress overrides a presidential veto.
What are checks and balances?
The candidate labeled a "sectional president" in 1860 because he won the election relying entirely on Northern electoral votes.
Who is Abraham Lincoln?
The historical event that officially ended the Reconstruction Era.
What is the withdrawal of federal troops (Compromise of 1877)?
The U.S. foreign policy declaration issued to prevent European powers from creating new colonies in the Western Hemisphere
What is the Monroe Doctrine?
The landmark 1803 Supreme Court case that established the court's power of judicial review.
What is Marbury v. Madison?
A major wartime advantage held by the North during the Civil War, giving them superior production and supply lines.
What are factories and railroads?
The constitutional amendment that explicitly abolished slavery throughout the entire United States.
What is the 13th Amendment?
Abraham Lincoln's executive war measure that declared free only those enslaved people residing in states rebelling against the Union.
What is the Emancipation Proclamation?