Key Terms
This is a word that means "two-houses"; our lawmaking part of government has two houses: the House of Representatives and the Senate.
What is bicameral?
Our nation's first constitution is know as this.
What are the Articles of Confederation?
The Constitutional Convention met in this famous city in Pennsylvania in 1787.
What is Philadelphia?
This rebellion of farmers made people worried and led to the call for a convention to make a stronger government to maintain order.
What is Shays's Rebellion?
Shays's Rebellion worried leaders and caused them to call for this meeting of delegates to make a stronger national government that could maintain order and protect citizens.
What is the Constitutional Convention?
This word means "one house"; the government under the Articles of Confederation had one house.
What is unicameral?
The Articles of Confederation created this type of government in which the states had more power than the national government.
What is a confederation?
This compromise was reached regarding how to count slaves for representation.
What is the Three Fifths Commpromise?
This leader of a rebellion by farmers was a former Revolutionary War veteran.
Who is Daniel Shays?
Taxes on farmers' lands in western Massachusetts and punishment for those farmers who could not pay the taxes led to this famous rebellion.
What is Shays's Rebellion?
This word means "approve". States had to do this to the U.S. Constitution before it would be accepted as the law of the land.
What is ratify?
The Articles of Confederation did not give the first national government for our country the power to do this to raise revenue.
What is tax?
This plan presented at the convention favored states with large populations and wanted representation in Congress to be based on a state's population.
What is the Virginia Plan?
These rebellions of farmers most took place in this part of Massachusetts.
What is western Massachusetts?
Fear of having another "king-like" government led the leaders of the Continental Congress to create this kind of national government in which states retained more power.
What is a confederation?
A written organization plan and "rule book" for government is called this.
What is a constitution?
This many states had to approve a new law under the Articles of Confederation.
What is 9 out of 13?
This plan was preferred by states with smaller populations; it gave each state equal representation in Congress.
What is the New Jersey Plan?
Farmers shut these institutions down in order to stop them from putting farmers in jail and forcing them to sell their land to pay taxes.
What are the courts?
Arguments between the delegates from states with large and small populations over the issues of equal vs. proportional representation caused them to reach this compromise.
What is the Great or Connecticut Compromise?
A system of laws, people, and institutions that control a political entity.
What is government?
This many states had to approve an amendment or change to the Articles of Confederation.
What is 13 out of 13?
This became the name for the compromise that was made on the issue of representation: representation would be based on a state's population in one "house" of the government; representation in the other house would be equal.
What is the Great Compromise?
This armed group had to stop the rebellions because the national government did not have the money and means to raise an army to stop them.
What is the Massachusetts militia?
Because the Constitution did not include this document protecting individual rights, some delegates such as George Mason and Elbridge Gerry refused to sign it.
What is a bill of rights?