Who were the anti-federalists?Those who opposed adopting the Constitution as written because they feared that it created an overly strong national government.
What were the Articles of Confederation?The constitution adopted by the Second Continental Congress in 1777. It set up a weak central government consisting of a congress with limited legislative power and virtually no authority over the execution of its laws.
What is a bicameral legislature?A legislature consisting of two chambers or houses.
What is the Bill of Rights?The first 10 amendments to the Constitution, which enumerate a set of liberties not to be violated by the government and a set of rights to be protected by the government.


Define checks and balances.An arrangement in which no one branch of government can conduct its core business without the approval, tacit or expressed, of the other branches.
What is the Commerce Clause?An enumerated power listed in Article 1, Section 8, of the Constitution that grants Congress the power to ''regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes.''
What was the Connecticut Compromise?An agreement reached at the Constitutional Convention that there would be a bicameral legislature, with an upper house (the Senate) composed of equal representation from each state and a lower house (the House of Representatives) composed of representation from each state in proportion to its population.
What is the Elastic Clause?The provision in Article I, Section 8, of the Constitution that states that Congress can make whatever laws are ''necessary and proper'' in order to provide the means to carry out its enumerated powers.


What is the electoral college?The electors appointed by each state to vote for the president.
What are expressed powers?Those powers specifically described in the Constitution.
Who were the federalists?Those who favored adopting the Constitution as written because they believed that a strong national government was needed to solve the collective dilemmas facing the states.
What was the New Jersey Plan?A plan proposed at the Constitutional Convention by William Patterson of New Jersey to amend, rather than replace, the standing Articles of Confederation. The plan called for a unicameral legislature with equal representation among the states, along with a plural (multi-person) executive appointed by the legislature.


What are reserved powers?Those powers not granted to the national government by the Constitution, and therefore reserved to the states.
Define rule of law.A system in which all people in a society, including governing officials, are subject to legal codes that are applied without bias by the independent courts.
Define separation of powers.An arrangement in which specific governmental powers are divided among distinct branches of government; typically, this means having an executive who is chosen independently of the legislature, and thus executive power and legislative power are separated.
What is the Supremacy Clause?The section of Article VI of the Constitution that states that the Constitution and the subsequent laws of the United States are to be the ''supreme law of the land,'' meaning that they supersede any state and local laws.


What was the Virginia Plan?A plan proposed at the Constitutional Convention by Edmund Randolph of Virginia, which outlined a stronger national government, with an independent executive and a bicameral legislature whose membership in both houses would be apportioned according to state population.
What is a representative assembly?A legislature composed of individuals who represent the population.
natural rights?Rights held to be inherent in natural law, not dependent on governments. John Locke stated that natural law, being superior to human law, specifies certain rights of ''life, liberty, and property.'' These rights, altered to become ''life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,'' are asserted in the Declaration of Independence.
What is the social contract?A voluntary agreement among individuals to secure their rights and welfare by creating a government and abiding by its rules.


What is a unicameral legislature?A legislature with only one legislative chamber, as opposed to a bicameral (two-chamber) legislature, such as the U.S. Congress. The Articles of Confederation created a unicameral legislature. Today, Nebraska is the only state with a unicameral legislature.
What is a confederation?A political system in which states or regional governments retain ultimate authority except for those powers they expressly delegate to a central government. A voluntary association of independent states, in which the member states agree to limited restraints on their freedom of action.
What is a state?A group of people occupying a specific area and organized under one government; may be either a nation or a subunit of a nation.
What is the Madisonian Model?A structure of government proposed by James Madison in which the powers of government are separated into three branches: executive, legislative, and judicial.


What is a federal system?A system of government in which power is divided between a central government and regional, or subdivisional, governments. Each level must have some domain in which its policies are dominant and some genuine political or constitutional guarantee of its authority.
Define ratification.Formal approval
What is the Take Care Clause?The provision in Article II, Section 3, of the Constitution instructing the president to ''take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed.''
What is the Declaration of Independence?The document drafted by Thomas Jefferson and adopted by the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, declaring the independence of the thirteen colonies from Great Britain.


What is a faction?A group of people sharing common interests who are opposed to other groups with competing interests. James Madison defined it as any group with objectives contrary to the general interests of society.
What is home rule?Power given by a state to a locality to enact legislation and manage its own affairs locally. It also applies to Britain's administration of the American colonies.
What was Shay's Rebellion?Uprising of 1786 led by Daniel Shays, a former captain in the Continental army and a bankrupt Massachusetts farmer, to protest the state's high taxes and aggressive debt collection policies. The rebellion demonstrated a fundamental weakness of the Articles of Confederation--its inability to keep the peace--and stimulated interest in strengthening the national government, leading to the Philadelphia convention that framed the Constitution.