1. Magna Carta - (Great Charter)
2. English Bill of Rights - 1689 – Declared the supremacy of Parliament. It kept the King or Queen from passing new taxes without Parliament’s approval.
3. Northwest Ordinance of 1787 – It established the Northwest Territory, created a system for making new
states, required public education be provided and banned slavery in the new territories.
4. Articles of Confederation – The 1 st constitution used in the United States (1781 – 1789). It only had one branch of government (Legislative = Congress). Under the Articles, most of the government’s power was given
to the 13 states.
5. Shays’ Rebellion – An uprising led by Daniel Shay, a group of farmers took up arms against the government
in Massachusetts in protest over high taxes and the possible loss of their farms.
6.
Constitutional Convention – Met in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 1787 in order to revise (fix or improve) the
Articles of Confederation. Instead of fixing the Articles, the founders wrote an entirely new constitution.
7. Great Compromise – Key in creating the new constitution. It created a 2 house legislative branch (bicameral)
one house = House of Representatives & one house = The Senate. This was needed to please all the
representatives at the convention.
8. 3/5 th Compromise – Under this compromise, only 3/5ths of a state’s slave population could be counted in the state’s total population.
9.
James Madison
– Known as the “Father of the Constitution” and the 4 president of the U.S. He brought many
of the ideas that were used in the Constitution to the convention.
10.
Federalists – Were strong supporters of the new constitution.
11. Anti-Federalists – They were opposed (against) ratifying (that means official approval) of the constitution.
12. Bill of Rights – Composed of the first 10 amendments added to the Constitution. Written list of our freedoms
the government is supposed to protect.
13. Federalists Papers – A series of essays written to persuade Americans to be in favor of supporting the new
constitution.
14. Pinckney’s Treaty – an agreement in 1795 between Spain and the U.S. by which Spain recognized the 31st
parallel as the southern boundary of the U.S. and gave the U.S. free navigation of the Mississippi River.
15. Whiskey Rebellion – An armed rebellion that was quickly ended by Washington. Farmers in Pennsylvania
were protesting a tax on Whiskey, that they believed to be unfair.
16. Alexander Hamilton – Founder of the Federalist Party. Also served as Washington’s Secretary of Treasury.
Many of his economic ideas were used in the formation of the United States.
17. Alien and Sedition Acts – (1798) A series of acts passed by the Federalist Party. The Alien Act

(Alien = Foreigner/Immigrant) made it more difficult for immigrants to become U.S. citizens. The Sedition Act
said that fines and imprisonment could be used against those who "write, print, utter, or publish . . . any false,
scandalous and malicious writing" against the government.
18. John Hancock – Wealthy patriot, president of the Continental Congress, and famous as the first signer of
the Declaration of Independence.
19. Thomas Jefferson Virginian, member of the House of Burgesses, 3 rd president of the U.S. and main
author of the Declaration of Independence.
20. State of Franklin - in 1784, four counties in western North Carolina declare their independence as the state
of Franklin. The counties lay in what would eventually become Tennessee. The counties declared
themselves a state from 1784 to 1789. However, Franklin was never officially recognized as a state and later
the area became part of the state of Tennessee.