1. The Constitutional Era

2. What is a republic?
A representative democracy

3. How does a republic work?
The people elect representatives
Representatives make the laws

4. The Articles of Confederation
What was the first attempt at workable government in the United States?
The Articles of Confederation

5. What was the basic problem with the government under the Articles of Confederation?
Too weak

6. What does the Constitution provide?
The basic framework for the U.S. government

7. For what two reasons had Americans fought the Revolutionary War?
Unfair taxation by Parliament
King George III had ruled like a tyrant

8. How did the Articles of Confederation limit Congress’ lawmaking power?
No power to tax
No power to regulate interstate commerce

9. What is a synonym for commerce?
Trade

10. What is currency?
Paper money

11. Where did the Constitutional Convention meet?
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

12. What is a compromise?
An agreement in which both sides get part of what they want, but neither side gets all of what it wants

13. George Washington James Madison
What two Virginians played important roles at the Constitutional Convention?
George Washington
James Madison

14. What position did George Washington hold at the Constitutional Convention?
President (chairman) of the Constitutional Convention

15. Who wrote the “Virginia Plan”?
James Madison

16. Who often led the debate and kept a written record of the Constitutional Convention?
James Madison

17. Who is considered the “Father of the Constitution”?
James Madison

18. What is another name for national law?
Federal law

19. What does it mean to say that federal law is the supreme law of the land?
When state law conflicts with federal (national) law, then the federal law overrides the state law.

20. What clause of the Constitution says that federal law is the supreme law of the land?
The supremacy clause

21. What type of national legislature did Madison’s “Virginia Plan” propose?
A two-house legislature
Population would determine a state’s representation in both houses of Congress

22. What effect would the “Virginia Plan” have on the smaller states’ influence in the government?
Reduce it greatly

23. How did the small states respond to the “Virginia Plan”?
Rejected it
Proposed the “New Jersey Plan”

24. Each state would have equal representation, regardless of population.
What did the “New Jersey Plan” say about representation in the national legislature?
Each state would have equal representation, regardless of population.

25. Which states would have been hurt by the “New Jersey Plan”?
The large states

26. What solved the large state/small state disagreement about representation in Congress?
The Great Compromise

27. How did the Great Compromise solve the big state/small state disagreement about representation in the national legislature?

28. Congress would be a two-house legislature: the Senate and the House of Representatives
Each state would have two U.S. Senators
Population would decide a state’s membership in the House of Representatives

29. What balanced power in Congress between the large and small states?
The Great Compromise

30. What states had decided to abolish (end) slavery in the years right after the Revolution?
The Northern states

31. What states had decided to keep slavery after the Revolution?
The Southern states

32. Did the North want slaves counted in figuring a state’s representation in the House of Representatives? No

33. Did the South want slaves counted in figuring a state’s representation in the House of Representatives?
Yes

34. What was the 3/5 Compromise?
Compromise between the North and the South
Slaves would count as 3/5 of a person in figuring a state’s representation in the House of Representatives

35. Define the term separation of powers?
The division of power among different branches of government

36. What three branches of government did the Constitution create?
Legislative
Executive
Judicial

37. What is the name of the legislative branch of the federal government?
Congress

38. What does the legislative branch do?
Makes the laws

39. What official leads the executive branch?
The President

40. What does the executive branch do?
Enforces the laws

41. What court leads the judicial branch of the federal government?
The Supreme Court

42. What does the judicial branch do?
Interprets or explains the meaning of the laws

43. Define checks and balances system.
A government in which each branch can stop or check the actions of the other branches

44. How many states had to ratify the Constitution before it could take effect?9

45. What does ratify mean?
Approve

46. Why was the ratification debate in Virginia very important?
Virginia was the largest state in population and located on the Atlantic coast right in the center of the United States.

47. Who were the Federalists?
Supporters of the Constitution

48. Who were the Anti-Federalists?
Opponents of the Constitution

49. Who were the two leading Federalists in Virginia?
George Washington
James Madison

50. Why did the Anti-Federalists fear a powerful national government?
Believed it would destroy the rights of individuals and the power of the states

51. Who were the two leading Anti-Federalists in Virginia?
Patrick Henry
George Mason

52. What group wanted a Bill of Rights included in the Constitution?
Anti-Federalists

53. Who took responsibility for drafting a Bill of Rights?
James Madison

54. What two documents did Madison use to write the Bill of Rights?
Virginia Declaration of Rights
Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom

55. Who wrote the Virginia Declaration of Rights?
George Mason

56. What was the basic idea of the Virginia Declaration of Rights?
Government should not violate basic human rights

57. Who wrote the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom?
Thomas Jefferson

58. What did the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom forbid?
An established church

59. Which church had been the established church in colonial Virginia?
The Anglican Church

60. Define the term established church.
The practice of the colony giving government support to one favored church

61. What basic idea did the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom support?
Freedom of religion

62. What is the Bill of Rights?
The first ten amendments to the Constitution

63. What is a constitutional amendment?
An addition to the Constitution

64. What rights are guaranteed by the First Amendment?
Freedom of Speech
Freedom of the Press
Freedom of Religion
Freedom of Assembly
The Right of Petition

65. What does freedom of assembly mean?
The right to gather at public meetings

66. What does the right of petition mean?
The right to make written requests to make changes in the government

67. Define free markets.
Business and trade without government regulation or rules