Shay's Rebellion
Anti-tax protest by farmers in Massachusetts led by Daniel Shay which illustrated the weaknesses of the central government
James Madison
One of the leaders of the Constitutional Convention and father of the Constitution; he was from Virginia
Roger Sherman
Delegate who developed the Great Compromise
Great Compromise
Compromise made by the Constitutional Convention in which states would have equal representation in one house of the legislature and representation based on population in the other house; Congress emerges from this compromise.
Virginia Plan
Offered by James Madison, it called for state's representation to be based on size of population; favored by larger states.
New Jersey Plan
It called for giving each state equal representation, no matter what size; favored by smaller states.
Three-fifths Compromise
Compromise that allowed states to count three-fifths of their slaves as part of their population.
Federalism
Form of government in which their is division of power between the federal and state governments
Legislative Branch
The branch of government that makes laws; divided into the House of Representatives (delegates are elected every 2 years directly by the people and amount is determined by size of population) and Senate (2 delegates elected every 6 years per each state).
Executive Branch
The branch of the government that enforces the laws; headed by the President, Cabinet members and vice-president.
Judicial Branch
The branch of the government that interprets the laws and the Constitution.
Checks and balances
Powers given to separate branches of government to keep any one from getting too much power; no one branch of government holds total power and can be overriden by another.
Delegated powers
Powers granted to the federal government in the Constitution.
Reserved powers
Powers kept by the states because they are not specifically granted to the federal government or denied to the states by the Constitution.
Concurrent powers
Powers granted jointly in the Constitution to the federal government and to the state governments.
Electoral college
A group selected to elect the president, in which each state's number of electors is equal to the number of its senators and representatives in Congress.
Federation
A federal union of states; the act of constituting a political unity out of a number of separate states or colonies or provinces so that each member retains the management of its internal affairs.
Republic
A form of government where the head of state is not a monarch and is usually a president; a political order in which supreme power lies in a body of citizens who are entitled to vote for officers and representatives responsible to them.
Constitution
Is a system, often in a written document, which establishes the fundamental rules and principles by which an organization is governed; the fundamental law of the state, containing principles upon which the government is founded and regulating the division