Ante-Constitution
The Second Continental Congress became the Confederation Congress in 1781 under this weak, national constitution.
The Articles of Confederation
A captain in the Continental Army who led a rebellion of western Massachusetts farmers protesting heavy taxation.
Daniel Shays
A plan for establishing the legislative branch of the federal government and determining how many representatives each state would have in the legislature; this plan called for two houses in the legislature, with the number of representatives in those houses to be determined by each state’s population or wealth.
Virginia Plan
Institution common in the South due to the plantation economy.
slavery
Founding Fathers and other people who supported the Constitution.
Federalists
"A law or decree"
ordinance
A meeting of 55 delegates from 12 of the 13 states that met in Philadelphia in 1787 in order to revise the Articles of Confederation.
Constitutional Convention
Argued by William Patterson, this plan called for a single house in the legislature, with each state having a single vote in the house.
New Jersey Plan
The requirement in the Constitution ordering citizens in every state to return runaway enslaved Africans to their owners.
Fugitive Slave Clause
Founding Fathers and other people who were against the Constitution.
Anti-Federalists
An ordinance of the Confederation Congress that outlined a process for creating new states in the Northwest Territories.
Northwest Ordinance (1787)
"to come to an agreement by giving in on some points."
Proposed by Roger Sherman of Connecticut, this plan resolved differences between large and small states over how representation would be determined in the legislative branch of government. Under this plan the legislature would have two houses, the Senate and the House of Representatives. In the Senate each state would have the same number of representatives.
The Great Compromise
The Transatlantic Slave Trade
The constitutional principle that states that all power given to the federal government must be enumerated, while that which is not is reserved for state governments.
Enumerated and Reserved Powers
Under the Articles of Confederation, each state could mint its own:
currency
Term used to describe founding fathers who were involved in the creation of the Constitution.
Framers
The originator of the Virginia Plan
James Madison
Three Fifths Compromise
What is the principle called that possesses a three-branch government. For instance, the legislature would make laws but could not enforce them; the executive enforced the laws but could not change them. No one branch of government would control the others or act without their approval.
Separation of Powers
The national government of the United States, under the Articles of Confederation, had a difficult time raising money because the Congress could not levy or collect:
taxes
The Father of the Constitution
James Madison
Edmund Randolph (lead delegate from Virginia)
The word enumerated means:
listed
Like separation of powers, this principle of limited government means each branch was empowered to stop the others from exercising too much power.
Checks and Balances