Foundational Documents
This was the first constitution of the United States, adopted in 1781, which created a weak central government with limited powers and was eventually replaced by the current U.S. Constitution due to its inability to address key issues such as taxation and interstate commerce.
What are the Articles of Confederation?
This is the highest court in the United States, responsible for interpreting the Constitution and making final rulings on legal cases.
What is the Supreme Court?
These are rights that people are born with and cannot be taken away, such as life, liberty, and property.
What are Natural Rights?
This was the process through which the Constitution was officially adopted by the states.
What is Ratification?
This clause gives Congress the power to make all laws that are "necessary and proper" to carry out its other powers.
What is the Necessary & Proper Clause?
This document, adopted on July 4, 1776, declared the American colonies' independence from Britain and outlined the philosophical justification for the separation.
What is the Declaration of Independence?
In this 1995 case, the Supreme Court ruled that Congress had exceeded its authority under the Commerce Clause when it passed a law banning guns in school zones, marking a shift in the Court's interpretation of federal power.
What is U.S. v. Lopez?
The concept that the authority of government is created and sustained by the consent of the people, who elect their leaders.
What is Popular Sovereignty?
This agreement between large and small states during the Constitutional Convention resulted in a bicameral legislature.
What is the Great (Connecticut) Compromise?
This constitutional clause gives Congress the authority to regulate interstate commerce.
What is the Commerce Clause?
In this essay, James Madison argues that a large republic can control factions by spreading power across a diverse nation and preventing any one faction from dominating.
What is Federalist 10?
In McCulloch v. Maryland (1819), the Supreme Court ruled that the federal government could use this clause to justify the creation of a national bank, even though it was not explicitly listed in the Constitution.
What is the Necessary and Proper Clause?
This agreement, often attributed to thinkers like Hobbes and Locke, posits that individuals consent to surrender some of their freedoms to a governing body in exchange for protection of their remaining rights.
What is the Social Contract?
This compromise counted three-fifths of enslaved people for both taxation and representation purposes.
What is the 3/5 Compromise?
This system allows each branch of government to limit the powers of the other branches to prevent any one branch from becoming too powerful.
What is Checks and Balances?
In this essay, James Madison argues for the separation of powers and checks and balances within the government to prevent any one branch from becoming too powerful.
What is Federalist 51?
In U.S. v. Lopez (1995), the Supreme Court ruled that the federal government could not use this clause to justify regulating gun possession in school zones, marking a limit on Congress's power under the clause.
What is the Commerce Clause?
This form of democracy is characterized by citizens electing officials to make decisions on their behalf, rather than directly participating in every decision.
What is representative democracy?
This event, sparked by economic hardship, demonstrated the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation and led to the drafting of the Constitution.
What is Shay’s Rebellion?
This term refers to a group of individuals with shared interests who try to influence government policies.
What is a Faction?
This anti-federalist paper warns against the dangers of a strong central government, arguing that a large republic would lead to the erosion of individual rights and the interests of local communities.
What is Brutus 1?
This case set the precedent that the Supremacy Clause allows federal law to override state laws, particularly when a state attempted to tax the operations of a federal institution.
What is McCulloch v. Maryland?
This system of government divides power between a central authority and regional or state governments, as outlined in the U.S. Constitution.
What is federalism?
This document, ratified in 1787, established the structure of the U.S. government, including its separation of powers and checks and balances.
What is the Constitution?
This body was created by the Constitution to elect the president and vice president of the United States.
What is the Electoral College?