Vocab 5.2
Drafting the Constitution
Shays’s Rebellion
• An armed uprising that took place in
Massachusetts in 1786 and 1787. The rebellion
happened because of the economic hardship that
followed the Revolutionary War.
• The U.S. government had a hard time responding
to the rebellion, exposing the weaknesses of the
Articles of Confederation.
Virginia Plan
A plan, proposed at the Constitutional
Convention. It was favored by states with large
populations because the number of representatives given
to a state in Congress was going to be based on the size
of a states population.
More people = more representatives
New Jersey Plan
• A plan proposed at the
Constitutional Convention.
It favored states with
smaller populations because
it gave all states an equal
number of representatives
regardless of population.
• Size doesn’t matter, all
states are equally
represented.
The Great Compromise
• The Connecticut
Compromise, also
known as the Great
Compromise of 1787 or
Sherman's Compromise,
was an agreement
between large and small
states which created the
Legislative branch of the
U.S. Government as it
exists today.
• It proposed a bicameral
legislature, resulting in
the current United
States Senate and House
of Representatives.
Bicameral
• A legislative body that has two branches or
chambers.
Legislative
• Having the power to make laws.
• In the United States the Legislative branch of
the government consists of the House of
Representatives and the Senate.
• Legislative is often times used interchangeable
with Congress.
The 3/5ths Compromise
• The 3/5 compromise was an agreement
between the Northern and Southern states to
count each slave as 3/5 of a person for
representation purposes.
• Slaves would also be counted as 3/5 of a
person for tax purposes.