Civics chpt 2 test

Virginia Plan

"Large state" proposal for the new constitution, calling for proportional representation in both houses of a bicameral Congress. The plan favored larger states and thus prompted smaller states to come back with their own plan for apportioning representation.

envoy

(n.) a representative or messenger (as of a government)

Jurisdiction

(n.) an area of authority or control; the right to administer justice

Preamble

(n.) an introduction to a speech or piece of writing

presiding officer

-the chair of a meeting -chosen by congress

How many votes did each state have in Congress during the war?

1

First Continental Congress (1774)

1774 meeting of all colonial delegates, except Georgia. The met to discuss a response to the Intolerable Acts; adopted the *Declaration and Resolves* in which they: Declared the Intolerable Acts null and void. Recommended that colonists arm themselves and that militias be formed. Recommended a boycott of British imports.

George Washington

1st President of the United States; commander-in-chief of the Continental Army during the American Revolution (1732-1799)

Popular Sovereignty

A belief that ultimate power resides in the people.

What is a bicameral legislature?

A bicameral legislature has two houses. Often, a bicameral legislature is divided into an upper and a lower house

Who handled executive functions in Congress during the war?

A committee of delegates.

Confederation

A joining of several groups for a common purpose.

Bicameral

A legislature consisting of two parts, or houses

List of Grievances

A list of circumstances that create feelings of resentment because people feel unfairly treated.

Stamp Act Congress

A meeting of delegations from 9 colonies, the congress was formed to protest the newly passed Stamp Act It adopted a declaration of rights and grievances as well as sent letters of complaints to the king and parliament, and it showed first signs of colonial unity and organized resistance.

Limited Government

A principle of constitutional government; a government whose powers are defined and limited by a constitution.

Boycott

A refusal to buy or use goods and services.

Comitties of Correspondence

A way for all the colonies to communicate with each other

Articles of Confederation

A weak constitution that governed America during the Revolutionary War.

Three-Fifths Compromise

Agreement that each slave counted as three-fifths of a person in determining representation in the House for representation and taxation purposes (negated by the 13th amendment)

Apt

Appropriate

5 members of Congress to prepare a proclamation of Independence - what came to be The Declaration of Independence

Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Roger Sherman, Robert Livingston, and Thomas Jefferson

How did the Britain's dealings with the colonies change?

Britain began to deal more firmly with the colonies. Restrictive trading acts were expanded and enforced. New taxes were imposed, mostly to support British troops in North America. Colonists were angry by this and claimed "taxation without representation"

How did the State Constitutions separate governmental power?

By separation of powers, checks and balances. Creating 3 distinct branches: executive, legislative and judicial. Each branch was given powers with which to check, or restrain the actions of, the other branches of the government.

Annapolis

Capital of Maryland

Powers of Congress

Collect taxes, borrow money, regulate commerce with other nations, coin money, declare war, control armed forces, make necessary laws.

Royal Colonies

Colonies controlled by the British king through governors appointed by him and through the king's veto power over colonial laws.

Connecticut Compromise

Compromise agreement by states at the Constitutional Convention for a bicameral legislature with a lower house in which representation would be based on population and an upper house in which each state would have two senators.

Shay's Rebellion (1786)

Daniel Shays, a veteran of the Continental Army, led a rebellion of poor farmers in Massachusetts who demanded debt relief, lower taxes, and protections against property seizures.

common features

Deciding if something is part of a concept based on whether certain very common elements are present

Petition of Right

Document prepared by Parliament and signed by King Charles I of England in 1628; challenged the idea of the divine right of kings and declared that even the monarch was subject to the laws of the land

Define the concept of representative government

English colonists imported three primary political notions that heavily influenced the formation of the US government. First, the colonists saw the need for ordered governance, establishing local governments in their settlements with sheriffs, justices of the peace, and other officials. The colonists secondly valued limited government, the idea that government has limits on power and cannot take certain individual rights away. Third, the colonists also imported early notions of representative government, believing that government should serve the will of the people and the people should have a voice in governance. These ideas of order, limits, and representation clearly manifest in the design of the US government.

Ratification

Formal approval

Who was electrd president of the convention

George Washington

Virginia Ratification

George Washington and James Madison presented the arguments for ratification to the Virginia convention; Madison's promise to add a bill of rights won the day for the Federalists

Mount Vernon

George Washington's home

Framers of the Constitution

Group of delegates who drafted the United States Constitution at the Philadelphia Convention in 1787

Independence Hall

Hall in Philadelphia where the Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776 and where the Constitutional Convention was held in 1787.

Civil Rights and Liberties

In every State it was made clear that the sovereign people held certain rights that the government must respect at all times. Seven of the new constitutions contained a bill of rights, setting out the "unalienable rights" held by the people.

Preamble

Introduction to the Constitution; explains why it was written

What did the First Continental Congress accomplish?

It developed the Declaration of Rights and urged colonists to boycott British imports because of unfair taxes and treatment.

First person to sign the Declaration of Independence

John Hancock

Powers of Congress under the Articles of Confederation

Make war or peace, send and receive ambassadors, make treaties, borrow money, set up money, set up a money system, establish post offices, build a navy, raise an army by asking the States for troops, fix uniform measures of weights and measures, and settle disputes among the States.

What was unique about the Declaration of Independence

No political system had ever been founded on the notion that the people should rule rather than be ruled.

State Obligations Under the Articles of Confederation

Obey the Articles and acts of the Congress, provide the funds and the troops requested by Congress, treat citizens of other States fairly and equally within their own boarders, and give full faith and credit to the public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other State. They also agreed to surrender fugitives from justice to one another, submit their disputes to Congress for settlement, and allow open travel and trade among the States.

Weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation

One vote for each State, regardless of size. Congress powerless to lay and collect taxes or duties. Congress powerless to regulate foreign and interstate commerce. No executive to enforce acts of Congress. No national court system. Amendment only with consent of all States. A 9/13 majority required to pass laws. Articles only a "firm league of friendship."

Unicameral

One-house legislature

John Hancock

Patriot leader and president of the Second Continental Congress; first person to sign the Declaration of Independence.

Common features of State Constitutions

Popular Sovereignty Limited Government Civil Rights and Liberties Separation of Powers and Checks and Balances

How was the lower house of the legislature chosen in the royal colonies?

Property owners who were qualified to vote elected the lower houses in royal colonies' legislatures.

Explain why the Barons forced King John to sign the Magna Carta

Representative government is the idea that government should serve the will of the people. In most cases, it also means that the people have a say in government decisions.

Served as the 1st government of the US (for 5 years)

Second Continental Congress

State Constitutions

States wrote a new constitution to replace their colonial charters after they declared independence. Most called for bicameral legislature and a governor (usually one year term for elected officials). You had to own property or pay a certain amount of tax to vote. Individual liberties protected people (including freedom of religion), but did not separate church and state.

The English crown gave Connecticut and Rhode Island many freedoms not enjoyed by the other colonies. Do you agree with the historians who say that the revolution may have never happened if all colonies enjoyed the same freedoms why or why not.

The American Revolution may not have occurred if all colonies enjoyed the same right to self-governance as Connecticut and Rhode Island. In Connecticut and Rhode Island, voters (white male property owners) elected officials at all levels of colonial government, and the Crown only approved the duly-elected governor and could rule on cases appealed from colonial courts. If all colonies possessed these freedoms, the king would not have been able to impose inflammatory laws on the colonies as easily, lessening some of the tension between the colonies and the Crown. Additionally, the people of the colonies would be more content with full self-governance. Though the colonists would likely desire separation from Britain at some point, this separation would more probably occur later in history and less violently.

What principals do the Magna Carta, the Petition of Right, and the English Bill of Rights have in common.

The Magna Carta, Petition of Right, and English Bill of Rights all support the principles of limited and representative government. Each document was clearly crafted to impose limits on a king's ability to infringe upon citizens' rights, particularly basic rights such as life, liberty, and property. The Petition of Right and English Bill of Rights explicitly promote representative governance by establishing Parliament as the primary authority over taxation and levying of other dues. The Petition of Right further protects representative governance by declaring free Parliamentary elections. The Magna Carta does not explicitly promote representative governance, but its development and adoption indicates the need for a government to represent the will of its people. These documents founded the ideas of representative and limited government that heavily influenced the founders of American government.

Resolution of Independence

The colonists declare their independence from Britain

What important impact did State constitutions have

The earliest documents were, within a few short years, to have a marked impact on the drafting of the Constitution of the United States

Boston Massacre

The first bloodshed of the American Revolution (1770), as British guards at the Boston Customs House opened fire on a crowd killing five Americans because they were boycotting english goods.

Shot heard round the world

The first shot fired of the Revolutionary War at Lexington and Concord when a group of armed minutemen confronted a British column.

Bill of Rights

The first ten amendments to the Constitution

Power of the Purse

The influence that legislatures have over public policy because of their power to vote money for public purposes.

Stamp Act

The law requires the use of tax stamps on all newspapers and legal or commercial documents and sertain business agreements

Constitutional Convention

The meeting of state delegates in 1787 in Philadelphia called to revise the Articles of Confederation. It instead designed a new plan of government, the US Constitution.

From what source do governments derive their "just powers"

The people

Separation of Powers and Checks and Balances

The powers granted to the new State governments were purposely divided among three branches: executive, legislative, and judicial. Each branch was given powers with which to check (restrain the actions of) the other branches of the government.

New Jersey Plan

The proposal at the Constitutional Convention that called for equal representation of each state in Congress regardless of the state's population.

What were some of the Framer's acomplishments.

They had wide knowledge and public experience. Many had fought in the Revolution. 46 of the 55 had been members of the Continental Congress or the Congress of the Confederation. Some were Govenors and served in constitutional conventions in their states. Many attended college. Two became presidents of thr US and one became vice president. Many later served in the Senate and House of Representatives.

Who was the primary author of the Declaration of Independence?

Thomas Jefferson

Amend

To change or modify

Inauguration

To go into office

What was the purpose of the Declaration of Independence?

To make the colonies free and independent from England, while establishing a political system that was founded on the notion that people should rule instead of being ruled.

Second Continental Congress (1775)

a convention of delegates from the 13 Colonies, managed the colonial war effort, sent The Olive Branch Petition, moved incrementally towards independence, adopted the Declaration of Independence, acted as the de facto national government.

Declaration of Rights

a document written by the First Continental Congress that stated the main concerns and wishes of the colonies

delegates

a person sent or authorized to represent others, in particular an elected representative sent to a conference.

Treaty of Paris

agreement signed by British and American leaders that stated the United States of America was a free and independent country

Commerce and Slave Trade Compromise

an agreement during the Constitutional Convention protecting slave holders; denied Congress the power to tax the export of goods from any State, and, for 20 years, the power to act on the slave trade

Unalienable

cannot be surrendered or transferred, sacred

Charter Colonies

colonies based on a grant of land by the British Crown to a company or a group of settlers

Propriety Colonies

colonies organized by a proprietor, a person to whom the king had made a grant of land

Bundle of Compromises

compromises reached before ratifying the Constitution; the Great Compromise, the "three-fifths compromise", Electoral college or popular vote for presidential election, three branches of government with checks and balances

State Obligations

full faith and credit, extradition, privileges and immunities

duty

import tax

Name the 3 unalienable rights listed in the Declaration of Independence.

life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness

Declaration of Natural Rights

life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness

Ordered Government

local governments should be divided into units and ruled by officers according to law

Anti-Federalists

people who opposed the Constitution

Albany Plan

plan proposed by Benjamin Franklin in 1754 that aimed to unite the 13 colonies for trade, military, and other purposes like taxing; the plan was turned down by the colonies and the Crown

Intolerable Acts

series of laws passed in 1774 to punish Boston for the Tea Party

arsenal

storage place for military equipment

Federalists

supporters of the Constitution

Representative Government

system of government in which public policies are made by officials selected by the voters and held accountable in periodic elections

Articals of Confederation

the first plan of government of the united states.

Taxation without representation

the idea that it is unfair to tax someone without giving them a voice in government

ablest

the most talented, capable, competent, skillful

According to the Declaration, what powers belong to the United States as "Free and Independent States"

the people of the States and God

presiding officer

the person chosen by congress to be their chair person of president. (Not of the U.S.) u

Magna Carta

the royal charter of political rights given to rebellious English barons by King John in 1215

repeal

to cancel a law