Declaring Independence
This body of delegates formally adopted the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776.
What is the Second Continental Congress?
This was the name of America's first national government, in place before the U.S. Constitution.
What are the Articles of Confederation?
This 1786 meeting, attended by only 5 states, led directly to the call for a larger convention in Philadelphia.
What is the Annapolis Convention?
This plan, backed by large states, proposed representation in Congress based on population.
What is the Virginia Plan?
This term describes a government structure with two separate lawmaking chambers, like the House and Senate.
What is bicameral?
This Founding Father is credited as the primary drafter of the Declaration of Independence.
Who is Thomas Jefferson?
Under the Articles, this many of the 13 states had to agree before Congress could pass a major law.
What is nine (9)?
This delegate presided over the Constitutional Convention, lending it credibility.
Who is George Washington?
This plan, backed by small states, proposed equal representation for every state regardless of size.
What is the New Jersey Plan?
This term describes a government structure with just one lawmaking chamber, like Congress under the Articles.
What is unicameral?
According to the Declaration, governments get their power from this source, rather than from kings or birthright.
What is the consent of the governed?
This is the term for officially changing or revising a document — something that required ALL 13 states to agree under the Articles.
What is amending (to amend)?
This delegate arrived with a detailed plan for a new government and kept extensive notes on the debates — later earning the nickname “Father of the Constitution.”
Who is James Madison?
This compromise created a two-house Congress, blending ideas from the Virginia and New Jersey Plans.
What is the Great Compromise (Connecticut Compromise)?
This is the term for officially approving a document, making it legally binding — something all 13 states eventually did for the Articles.
What is ratifying (to ratify)?
This is the term for a formal complaint listed against the king in the Declaration — there were 27 of them.
What is a grievance?
This 1786 armed uprising of Massachusetts farmers exposed just how weak the national government really was.
What is Shays' Rebellion?
This influential Founding Father refused to attend the Convention, reportedly saying he “smelled a rat.”
Who is Patrick Henry?
This compromise determined that enslaved people would count as a fraction of a person for both representation and taxation.
What is the Three-Fifths Compromise?
This is the general term for an agreement in which each side gives up something in order to reach a deal.
What is a compromise?
This is the term for a formal complaint listed against the king in the Declaration — there were 27 of them.
What is a grievance?
This 1787 law is considered the single biggest success of the Articles — it set up how new territories could become states and banned slavery there.
What is the Northwest Ordinance?
The delegates conducted their meetings under this condition, with windows shut all summer, so they could speak freely.
What is secrecy (a rule of secrecy)?
This compromise gave Congress power to regulate trade, but protected the slave trade from being banned for 20 years.
What is the Commerce Compromise?
This document, finalized in 1787, replaced the Articles of Confederation entirely.
What is the U.S. Constitution?