Vocabulary lesson 1
A detailed, written plan for government.
what is constitution
The opening section of the Constitution.
What is the preamble?
The idea that power lies with the people.
What is popular sovereignty?
Agreement providing a dual system of congressional representation.
What is Great Compromise?
Powers that the Constitution does not give to the national government that are kept by the states.
What is reserved powers?
A legislature consisting of two parts, or houses.
What is bicameral?
One of several main parts of the Constitution.
What is articles?
The principal that a ruler or a government is not all-powerful; a government that can do only what the people allow it to do.
What is limited government?
Agreement providing that enslaved persons would count as three-fifths of other persons in determining representation in Congress.
What is Three-Fifths Compromise?
Powers shared by the state and federal governments.
What is concurrent powers?
A group of individuals or state governments.
What is confederation?
Any change in the Constitution.
What is amendment?
The split of authority among the legislative, executive, and judicial branches.
What is separation of powers?
A group of people named by each state legislature to select the president and vice president.
What is Electoral College?
Powers granted directly to the national government by the Constitution; another name for expressed powers.
What is enumerated powers?
The first constitution of the United States.
What is Articles of Confederation?
Describes when and how the constitution can be changed.
What is article five?
A system in which each branch of government is able to check, or restrain, the power of the others.
What is checks and balances?
Supporters of the Constitution.
What is Federalists?
The clause in Article VI of the Constitution that makes federal laws prevail over state laws when there is a conflict.
What is supremacy clause?
A law that set up a plan for surveying western lands; this method is still used today.
What is Ordinance of 1785?
Explains the relationship between the states and the national government.
What is article four?
A form of government in which power is divided between the federal, or national, government and the states.
What is federalism?
Those who opposed ratification of the Constitution.
What is Anti-Federalists?
Principle that the law applies to everyone, even those who govern.
What is rule of law?