Chapter 6 APUSH

Federalist Papers

Alexander Hamilton, with the help of James Madison and John Jay, produced "The Federalist Papers," a brilliant series of essays explaining and defending the stronger national government created by the Constitutional Convention of 1787.

Antifederalists

Antifederalists opposed ratification of the Constitution; they were states' rightists and were concerned that the Constitution contained no bill of rights. Federalists advocated ratification of the Constitution; they were centralizing nationalists.

Shays's Rebellion

Daniel Shays, a veteran of Bunker Hill, led an armed rebellion of farmers in western Massachusetts to prevent state courts from foreclosing on debtors unable to pay their taxes. The rebellion convinced nationalists that to suppress or inhibit such rebellions, the nation needed a stronger national gov.

Jay-Gardoqui agreement

In 1785, diplomat John Jay negotiated an agreement with Don Diego de Gardoqui, a Spanish official, that fell short of achieving what Congress wanted—the restoration of U.S. rights to navigation on the Mississippi River. Disappointed, Congress terminated the negotiations.

Great Compromise

In the Great Compromise, the Constitutional Convention decided that in the House of Representatives each state's number of seats were to be assigned according to its population (proportional representation) and filled by popular vote. In the Senate, each state was to have two members (equal representation) elected by its state legislature.

nationalists

In the depression-torn and crisis-ridden mid-1780s, nationalists were proponents of a constitutional convention who believed only centralization of government authority would save the new American nation from disintegration. Alexander Hamilton was a prominent nationalist.

New Jersey Plan

James Madison offered the Constitutional Convention the Virginia Plan calling for proportional representation in Congress. William Paterson's New Jersey Plan, hoping to protect the less populous states, called for equal representation in Congress for each state. The controversy was resolved in the Great Compromise.

Virginia Plan

James Madison offered the Constitutional Convention the Virginia Plan calling for proportional representation in Congress. William Paterson's New Jersey Plan, hoping to protect the less populous states, called for equal representation in Congress for each state. The controversy was resolved in the Great Compromise.

ratification

The Founding Fathers agreed to submit their Constitution for ratification by specially called state conventions. This procedure gave the Constitution the endorsement of the people, and it also bypassed the state legislatures, where many opposed the stronger national government the Constitution created.

Northwest Ordinance

The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 formulated plans for governments in America's northwestern territories, defined a procedure for the territories' admission to the Union as states, and prohibited slavery north of the Ohio River.

Land Ordinance of 1785

The Ordinance of 1785 provided for the surveying and sale of America's western territories. It favored speculative land development companies, but it promoted nationalism.

Articles of Confederation

The Articles, ratified in 1781, were the United States's first constitution. They sharply limited central authority by denying the national government any taxation or coercive power.

electoral college

The Constitutional Convention adopted the electoral college system as a method of electing presidents. Each state had electors equal in number to its representation in Congress. Each elector cast two votes for president, but if no candidate received a majority, the election would be decided in the House of Representatives.

Bill of Rights

The first ten amendments to the Constitution, adopted in 1791, comprise the Bill of Rights. A product of Antifederalist influence, the Bill of Rights protects individual liberties against the power of the national government.

Dickinson, John

Before the Revolutionary War, Dickinson published the "Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania" in which he denied Parliament the right to tax the colonies. In the Second Continental Congress, Dickinson chaired a committee that drafted an unpopular plan for creating a strong central government.

Federalists

Federalists advocated ratification of the Constitution; they were centralizing nationalists. Antifederalists opposed ratification of the Constitution; they were states' rightists and were concerned that the Constitution contained no bill of rights.

Philadelphia Convention

Responding to calls for a stronger and more energetic national government, fifty-five delegates met in Philadelphia in the summer of 1787 to draft a new constitution to replace the weak Articles of Confederation.