Republic

A group ruled by representatives of the people

Articles of Confederation

A government document that created a union of 13 sovereign states in which the states, not the national government, were supreme

Shay’s Rebellion

A popular uprising against the government of Massachusetts

Constitution Convention

A meeting attended by state delegates in 1787 to fix the Articles of Confederation

Writ of Habeas Corpus

The right of people detained by the government to know the charges against them

Bills of Attainder

When the legislature declares someone guilty without trial

EX Post Facto Laws

Laws punishing people for acts that were not crimes at the time they were committed

Virginia Plan

A plan of government calling for a 3 branch government with a bicameral legislature, where more populous states would have more representation in congress

New Jersey Plan

A plan of government that provided for a unicameral legislature with equal votes for each state

Great Compromise

An agreement for a plan of government that drew upon both the Virginia and New Jersey plan; it settled issues of state representation by calling for a bicameral legislature with a house of representatives and a senate apportioned equally

⅗ th Compromise

An agreement reached by delegates at the Constitution Convention that a slave would count as ⅗ of a person in calculating a state’s representation

Compromise on Importation

Congress could not restrict the slave trade until 1808

Separation of Powers

A design of government that distributes powers across institutions in order to avoid making one branch too powerful on its own

Checks and Balances

a design of government in which each branch has powers that can prevent the other branches from making policies

Federalism

The sharing of power between national government and states

Federalist

Supporters of the proposed constitution who called for a strong national government

Anti-Federalist

those opposed to the proposed constitution, who favored strong state government

Federalist Papers

a series of 85 essays written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madision, and John Bay and published between 1787 and 1788 that lay out the theory behind the constitution

Faction

A group of self-interested people who use the government to get what they want, trampling the rights of others in the process

Federalist 10

An essay in which Madison argues that the dangers of faction can be mitigated by a large republican government

Brutus I

An anti-federalist paper arguing that the country was too large to be governed as a republic and that the constitution gave too much power to the national government

Federalist 51

An essay in which Madison argues that separation of powers and federalism will prevent tyranny

Bill of Rights

A formal declaration of the fundamental rights and freedoms of individuals that a government promises to protect, such as freedom of speech and religion

Charles Beard

An American historian who argued against the constitution