Chapter 6: republicanism – Flashcards

a form of government in which power resides in the people and is exercised by their elected representatives

Wife of John Adams. During the Revolutionary War, she wrote letters to her husband describing life on the home front. She urged her husband to remember America's women in the new government he was helping to create.

the idea that all humans are born with rights, which include the right to life, liberty, and property. (John Locke)

this document, the nations first constitution, was adopted by the second continental congress in 1781during the revolution. the document was limited because states held most of the power, and congress lacked the power to tax, regulate trade, or control coinage

Enacted in 1787, it is considered one of the most significant achievements of the Articles of Confederation. It established a system for setting up governments in the western territories so they could eventually join the Union on an equal footing with the original 13 states

provided a procedure for dividing the land into territories Effect: established blueprint for future growth of the nation

A series of attacks on courthouses by a small band of farmers led by Revolutionary War Captain Daniel Shays to block foreclosure proceedings

Shay's Rebellion demonstrated the weakness of the government at the time, and emphasized that national gov. needed more power than they had.

Responding to calls for a stronger and more energetic national government, 55 delegates met in the summer of 1787 to draft a new constitution to replace the ineffective Articles of Confederation. The product that was created here, the Constitution of the United States, was ratified in 1788. It replaced the Articles of Confederation as the governing document for the United States, and transformed the constitutional basis of government from confederation to federation, also making it the world's oldest federal constitution.

The proposal at the Constitutional Convention that called for representation of each state in Congress in proportion to that state's share of the U.S. population.

Opposite of the Virginia Plan, it proposed a single-chamber congress in which each state had one vote. This created a conflict with representation between bigger states, who wanted control befitting their population, and smaller states, who didn't want to be bullied by larger states.

agreement providing that enslaved persons would count as three-fifths of other persons in determining representation in Congress

Supporters of ratification of the Constitution and of a strong central government

Opponents of a strong central government who campaigned against the ratification of the Constitution in favor of a confederation of independant states

This collection of essays by John Jay, Alexander Hamilton, and James Madison, explained the importance of a strong central government. It was published to convince New York to ratify the Constitution.

The first ten amendments of the U.S. Constitution, containing a list of individual rights and liberties, such as freedom of speech, religion, and the press.