The Amendments & The Bill of Rights
The total number of amendments to the Constitution.
What is 27?
The year the Constitution was written.
What is 1787?
The body of the Constitution that states the goals and purposes of the new government.
What is the Preamble?
The principle stating that the people have the right to rule, ensured by things like elections.
What is Popular Sovereignty?
A group of individuals united for the same purpose or cause.
What is a Confederation?
This group comprises the first ten amendments to the Constitution.
What is the Bill of Rights?
The document that established a "league of friendships" among the states before the Constitution.
What were the Articles of Confederation?
The Article that establishes the Judicial Branch.
What is Article III?
The concept where power is shared by the federal government and state governments.
What is Federalism?
Powers set aside only for the state governments, such as setting up schools.
What are Reserved Powers?
This amendment group is often associated with the Civil War.
What are the Civil War Amendments?
This event, involving heavily taxed and indebted farmers, demonstrated the weakness of the Articles of Confederation.
What was Shay's Rebellion?
The total number of Articles in the Constitution.
What is 7?
Powers listed in the Constitution that apply solely to the federal government, like Declaring War.
What are Enumerated Powers?
These individuals wrote The Federalist Papers supporting a strong national government.
Who were Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay?
The Anti-Federalists primarily wanted this added to the Constitution to ensure rights were clearly stated.
What is a Bill of Rights?
The ordinance that banned slavery in the North West Territory.
What is the Northwest Ordinance?
This branch of government is responsible for interpreting the Constitution.
What is the Judicial Branch (Ex: Supreme Court)?
The principle that states the government can only do what the people allow it to do.
What is Limited Government?
The principle that divides authority among the three branches so they have different tasks.
What is Separation of Powers?
The 3/5 Compromise addressed how to count enslaved persons for this purpose.
What is representation (in the House)?
The plan favoring large states with representation based on population in a unicameral Congress.
What is the Virginia Plan?
The final compromise between the New Jersey and Virginia Plans, also known as the Connecticut Compromise.
What is the Great Compromise?
The clause stating the Constitution is the highest law in the nation, followed by federal and then state laws.
What is the Supremacy Clause (in Article VI)?
The meeting where the Articles of Confederation were scrapped and the Constitution began to be written, held in secrecy.
What was the Constitutional Convention?