5.1 Articles of Confederation
What was the Articles of Confederation?
Our first national government after we achieved independence from Britain.
How was the division of power a problem during the Articles of Confederation?
All the power was given to the states while Congress had the least amount of power, thus Congress could not provide any assistance when the states were in conflict with one another.
What is the Three Fifths Compromise?
Only 3/5 of the state's slave population would count towards representation
What does it mean to "amend the constitution" and what is the process like?
To make changes to the constitution; it is a long and difficult process
What does it mean to "ratify"? How many states did we need to ratify the new constitution?
Ratify means to approve. We needed 9/13 states to ratify the constitution.
Name the 2 British documents that inspired our first government.
English Bill of Rights and the Magna Carta
How does inflation connect to depression, which were both a problem during the Articles of Confederation?
Inflation is when you have an increase in prices but a decrease in money value, which happens in a bad economy. Inflation often leads to a depression, where the bad economy results in a high unemployment rate.
What was the Great Compromise?
The agreement to create a two house legislature in order to settle the dispute over state representation in the new government.
What is the idea of popular sovereignty and how did we include that in our constitution?
Popular sovereignty is the idea that the power is in the hands of the people. We achieved this by giving the people the right to vote.
Why was the Bill of Rights added to the constitution?
Many Antifederalists did not believe that the constitution would protect personal freedoms, so they added an extra bill to clarify and protect individual rights.
What was the importance or main idea of the Declaration of Independence? And, when was it signed?
Signed on July 4, 1776, the declaration promoted to protect our individual rights.
During the Articles of Confederation, we had no interstate commerce or international trade. Explain both.
International trade- trade with foreign nations, specifically Britain became a problem because they closed their ports to the states
What ideas came out of the New Jersey plan? (3)
- proposed a unicameral, one house legislature
- gave more power to state governments
- The Senate should allow equal representation for the states (2 per state)
What is the difference between federalism and the confederal system?
Federalism is the division of power between the national governments and the states. The Confederal System is the loosely joined union of the states.
What were the Bill of Rights?
The first 10 amendments added to the constitution.
Our first constitution brought in the ideas of limited government and rule of law. Define both.
Limited government- to restrict the powers of the national government
Rule of law- to force citizens as well as political leaders to follow the laws
Who, what, where, why, and importance to Daniel Shays' Rebellion?
What ideas came out of the Virginia Plan? (3)
- sovereignty- or supreme power should be given to the national government
- Congress should be bicameral (2 houses)
- created the House which was based on state population leading to representation in the government
What is the purpose of checks and balances?
Preventing one branch from becoming too powerful
What is the difference between a federalist and an antifederalist?
Federalists support the new constitution. Antifederalists are against the new constitution and supported the Article of Confederation.
What year was the Northwest Land Ordinance passed? And, what was its purpose?
Passed in 1787, it created a system for bringing more western states into the union.
Why were there two attempts for changing the Articles of Confederation, and what were the names of each?
There were two attempts because most states did not attend the first one. Their name were the Annapolis Convention and the Constitutional Convention.
Year, place, and purpose of the Constitutional Convention... what was the actual outcome?
1787- Philadelphia- purpose was to improve the Articles of Confederation but we ended up writing a brand new constitution.
Name each branch of government with their power.
Legislative- makes laws
Executive- enforces laws
Judicial- interprets the laws
What were the Federalist Papers? Who published them (on paper and in real life)?
Federalist Papers were a series of essays that supported the new constitution. They were printed under the name of Publius, but they were written by John Jay, James Madison, and Alexander Hamilton.