Before the War
In 1774, this group met for the first time to find peaceful solutions to the Intolerable Acts of Great Britain.
What is the First Continental Congress?
This document served as the first national government of the United States.
What are The Articles of Confederation?
The three main authors of the Federalist Papers were these three Founding Fathers.
Who were Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay?
He is known as the "Father of the Constitution" for his crucial role in drafting the document.
Who is James Madison?
Each branch of government has unique powers to prevent the other branches from gaining too much power.
What is checks and balances?
This document from 1215 is the first of its kind to state that a king and his government were not above the law, that specific individual rights were granted to "all freemen", and it also established the concept of due process.
What is the Magna Carta?
To change or amend the Articles, this many out of 13 states had to agree.
What is 13 out of 13?
This Anti-Federalist proposed adding a Bill of Rights during the Constitutional Convention.
Who was George Mason?
The first ten amendments to the Constitution are known as this.
What is the Bill of Rights?
In this year the Declaration of Independence was published.
What is 1776?
This person was tasked with officially stating in writing that the colonies were separating from Great Britain to become independent.
Who was Thomas Jefferson?
Under the Articles of Confederation, this was the only branch of the national government that existed.
What is the legislative branch?
This side was more likely to be made up of merchants and lawyers.
What are the Federalists?
The Preamble begins with these words which establish the document's authority.
What is "We the People"?
This idea combined the Virginia Plan and the New Jersey Plan, so that all states would be fairly represented in Congress.
What is the Great Compromise (aka Connecticut Compromise)?
The purpose of this pamphlet written by Thomas Paine was to persuade many colonists to support independence.
What is "Common Sense"?
To pass a law under the Articles, this many states needed to agree, making it difficult to pass legislation.
What is nine out of thirteen?
The Anti-Federalists were more likely to be found in these types of areas.
What are rural areas?
He wrote the Declaration of Independence, though he did not sign the Constitution.
Who is Thomas Jefferson?
The only state that did not send delegates to the Philadelphia Convention.
What is Rhode Island?
This is the famous closing line from a speech delivered by Patrick Henry to convince the audience that inaction against British rule would have dire consequences.
What is "Give me liberty or give me death!"?
Because the states were afraid of a strong central authority, they kept most of this with the states, rather than the national government.
What is power?
This was the main point of disagreement between Federalists and Anti-Federalists.
What is the power of the new national government versus the power of the states?
The legislative branch, or Congress, is made up of two houses also known as what?
What are the Senate and the House of Representatives?
This governmental order declared that 1) new territories could join the Union as states when their population was large enough, 2) no newly admitted states could allow slavery, 3) set aside land for public schools, and 4) granted the freedom of religion.
What is the Northwest Ordinance of 1787?