Colonial Government
This agreement established a form of self-government for the Pilgrims who settled in Plymouth in 1620.
What is the Mayflower Compact?
This 1776 document announced that the American colonies were separating from Great Britain.
What is the Declaration of Independence?
This was the first national governing framework adopted by the United States.
What are the Articles of Confederation?
Delegates met in this Pennsylvania city in 1787 to address the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation.
What is Philadelphia?
This English document, signed by King John in 1215, helped establish that the monarch's power was limited by law.
What is the Magna Carta?
Colonists used this phrase to protest being taxed by Parliament without having elected representatives in it.
What is "no taxation without representation"?
Under the Articles, most governing authority remained with these political units rather than the national government.
What are the states?
This Virginia delegate is widely known as the "Father of the Constitution" for his major role in developing the framework.
Who is James Madison?
This term describes a system in which people elect officials to make decisions on their behalf.
What is representative government?
This 1773 protest involved colonists dumping British tea into Boston Harbor.
What is the Boston Tea Party?
This major weakness prevented Congress from directly collecting taxes from citizens to fund the national government.
What was Congress's lack of taxing power?
This agreement created a two-house Congress, with representation based on population in one house and equal state representation in the other.
What is the Great Compromise?
This principle means government officials must obey the law and cannot exercise unlimited power.
What is limited government?
This group first met in 1774 to coordinate the colonies' response to British policies.
What is the First Continental Congress?
This 1786–1787 uprising by indebted Massachusetts farmers exposed weaknesses in the national government's ability to respond to unrest.
What is Shays' Rebellion?
This compromise counted three-fifths of a state's enslaved population when determining representation and direct taxation.
What is the Three-Fifths Compromise?
Colonial assemblies, elected governors in some colonies, and local self-government helped the colonists develop experience with this political practice.
What is self-government?
This Enlightenment philosopher argued that people possess natural rights and that government authority depends on the consent of the governed.
Who is John Locke?
Under the Articles, changing the agreement required unanimous approval from these governing bodies.
What are all thirteen state legislatures?
This plan proposed a strong national government with three branches and representation in the legislature based largely on population.
What is the Virginia Plan?