Chapter 7: Creating Republican Governments, 1776-1790

Monarchy

A form of government with a monarch at its head

Majority Rule

A fundamental principle of democracy, providing that the majority should have the power to make decisions binding upon the whole

What were the primary causes of Shays' Rebellion?

A group of farmers in western Massachusetts, including Daniel Shays, rebelled against the Massachusetts government, which they saw as unresponsive to their needs. Many were veterans of the Revolutionary War and faced tremendous debts and high taxes, which they couldn't pay with their worthless paper money. They felt that they didn't have a voice in the Massachusetts government, which seemed to cater to wealthy Boston merchants. They wanted their debts to be forgiven and the Massachusetts constitution to be rewritten to address their needs, and when these demands weren't met, they rebelled.

Democracy

A system of government in which the majority rules

How was the U.S. Constitution ratified? A. By each state at special ratifying conventions. B. At the Constitutional Convention of 1787. C. At the Confederation Convention. D. By popular referendum in each state.

A. By each state at special ratifying conventions.

Which of the following states had the most democratic constitution in the 1780s? A. Pennsylvania. B. Massachusetts. C. South Carolina. D. Maryland.

A. Pennsylvania.

To what form of government did the American revolutionaries turn after the war for independence? A. Republicanism. B. Monarchy. C. Democracy. D. Oligarchy.

A. Republicanism.

How would you characterize Thomas Jefferson's ideas on race and slavery?

Although he owned hundreds of slaves in his lifetime and fathered several children with his slave Sally Hemings, Jefferson opposed slavery. He argued that the institution should be abolished and slaves returned to Africa, believing that blacks and whites could not live together in a free society without the result of a race war.

Three-Fifths Compromise

An agreement at the Constitutional Convention that each slave would count as three-fifths of a white person for purposes of representation

Which of the following figures did not actively challenge the status of women in the early American republic? A. Abigail Adams. B. Phyllis Wheatley. C. Mercy Otis Warren. D. Judith Sargent Murray.

B. Phyllis Wheatley.

Which of the following was not one of Franklin's thirteen virtues? A. Sincerity. B. Temperance. C. Mercy. D. Tranquility.

C. Mercy.

Which plan resolved the issue of representation for the U.S. Constitution? A. The Rhode Island Agreement. B. The New Jersey Plan. C. The Connecticut Compromise. D. The Virginia Plan.

C. The Connecticut Compromise.

Which state had the clearest separation of church and state? A. New Hampshire. B. Pennsylvania. C. Virginia. D. New York.

C. Virginia.

What defined republicanism as a social philosophy?

Citizenship within a republic meant accepting certain rights and responsibilities as well as cultivating virtuous behavior. This philosophy was based on the notion that the success or failure of the republic depended upon the virtue or corruption of its citizens.

Under the Articles of Confederation, what power did the national Confederation Congress have? A. The power to tax. B. The power to enforce foreign treaties. C. The power to enforce commercial trade agreements. D. The power to create land ordinances.

D. The power to create land ordinances.

Unicameral

Having a single house (of legislative government)

Bicameral

Having two legislative houses, an upper and a lower house

Federalists

Those who supported the 1787 Constitution and a strong central government; these advocates of the new national government formed the ruling political party of the 1790s

Proportional Representation

Representation that gives more populous states greater political power by allowing them more representatives

Radical Whigs

Revolutionaries who favored broadening participation in the political process

Connecticut (Great) Compromise

Roger Sherman's proposal at the Constitutional Convention for a bicameral legislature, with the upper house having equal representation for all states and the lower house having proportional representation

Explain the argument that led to the three-fifths rule and the consequences of that rule.

Southern slaveholders wanted slaves to count for the purposes of representation, while people from northern states feared that counting slaves would give the southern states too much power. Their fears were valid; the three-fifths rule, which stated that each slave counted as three-fifths of a person for purposes of representation, gave the southern states the balance of political power.

Manumission

The freeing of a slave by his or her owner

Coverture

The legal status of married women in the United States, which included complete legal and economical dependence on husbands

Electoral College

The mechanism by which electors, based on the number of representatives from each state, choose the president

Conservative Whigs

The politically and economically elite revolutionary class that wanted to limit political participation to a few powerful families

Anti-Federalists

Those who opposed the 1787 Constitution and favored stronger individual states