Unit 3: Writing the Constitution
Vocabulary Log
Chapter 7, Section 1 – The Articles of Confederation
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Phyllis Wheatly 192 – A poet who is the founder of the African American literary tradition and also she spoke out for liberty.
Constitution 193 – A plan of government
Why are Americans cautious? 193 – They did not want to become like England and give the government too much power
Bicameral 193 – a government with 2 houses of legislature
*2nd Continental Congress 193 (1776) – Appointed a committee to develop a plan for a new government, they created the
Articles of Confederation
Republic 193 – Citizens rule through elected representatives
*Articles of Confederation 194 (1777) – First Constitution provided for a new central government under which the states
gave up little power
Powers of the Articles of Confederation 194 – The government had the power to maintain armed forces, borrow money, and
issue currency. It could not regulate trade, force people to join Army or impose taxes.
How votes were taken 194 – Each state had 1 vote and all states had to agree
Weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation 195 – Not a strong enough government to handle the problems facing the U.S.,
limited authority.
Ordinance 196 – a law
*Ordinance of 1785 196 – a law for surveying or selling western lands north of Ohio River.
*Northwest Ordinance – Northwest Territory 196 (1787) – States north of the Ohio River and west of the Mississippi river
could request statehood.
Financial problems 197 by (1781) – Lacking the power to tax and with heavy debts from the war they could not pay the
soldiers, the value of paper money dropped low and food was expensive.
Import tax 197 – Robert Morris proposed a 5% import tax, but it failed to pass all states, Rhode Island voted against it.
*Problems with Britain 197-198 (1785) - Britain promised in the Treaty of Paris of 1783 to withdraw from all lands east of the
Mississippi, but they continued to occupy forts in Great Lakes Region, and made trade difficult for the U.S.
Problems with Spain 198 (1784) – Spain held Florida and lands west of the Mississipp and they closed the lower Mississippi
and cut off shipping port.
Section 2 Convention and Compromise
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Depression 199 – Economic activity slowed and unemployment increased, trade and exports slowed.
*Shay’s Rebellion 200 (1787) – Lots of farmers were angry with the new government for seizing their land to pay debts, In
Massachusetts’s Daniel Shay led 1000 farmers in a march to an arsenal for guns, 4 farmers were shot and killed and the rest
scattered.
* Slavery 200 (1776-1786) – 11 states (all but Georgia and South Carolina) outlawed the importing of slaves or imposed
heavy taxes.
Plantation System 201 – this system was built on having slaves work the plantation and the south feared economic collapse
if slaves were free.
Manumission 201 – law passed in Virginia to free individual slaves.
Division 201 – Strong division among the states over slavery, a compromise was reached by state representatives.
*call for change 201 (1786) – James Madison and Alexander Hamilton called for changing the Articles of Confederation to
provide a stronger federal government.
*Constitutional Convention 202 (May 1787) – 55 delegates assembled in Philadelphia, including George Washington, Ben
Franklin, and James Madison, the purpose was to revise the Articles of Confederation and discuss trade issues.
Who presided? 202 – George Washington
Father of the Constitution 202 – James Madison
Virginia Plan 203 – introduced by Edmund Randolph, but the work of James Madison the plan called for a 2-house
legislature; a chief executive chosen by the legislature and a court system. Members of lower house would be chosen by the
people and members of upper house would be chosen by lower house. Number of representatives would be determined by
the size of the state population.
Proportional 203 – meaning to correspond (be the same) in size.
*New Jersey Plan 203 (June 15th 1787) – This plan was proposed by William Paterson of NJ and it kept the one-house
legislature with 1 vote for each state. It also granted Congress the power to tax and regulate trade. It supported a weak
executive branch.
*Compromise (June 19th 1787) – an agreement between 2 or more sides in which each side gives up some of what it wants.
Great Compromise 204 – Under Ben Franklin’s leadership a committee was formed to resolve their differences and Roger
Sherman suggested what came to be called the Great Compromise, a 2 house party; the House with varied members from
each state based on population of state and the Senate with 2 members from each state.
3/5 Compromise 204 – each slave was counted as 3/5 of a person for purposes of taxation and representation (number used
to determine House seats).
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Slave Trade 205 – Compromise between North and South was to delay interference in slave trade until 1808.
Bill of Rights 205 – George Mason proposed this to protect rights from the new national government, but this was defeated.
Approving the constitution 205 – 3 delegates refused to sign, Elbridge Gerry of Mass., and Edmund Randolph and George
Mason of Virginia. Gerry and Mason wanted a Bill of Rights. They had learned that getting unanimous approval for changes
to the Articles had been frustrating so they agreed to change the approval process.
*signing date – September 17, 1787, Of the 55 Delegates, 3 refused to sign. 52 signed.
How many states signed it? 205 – 9 or the 13 states were needed for approval. By 1790 all 13 signed it.
Section 3 – A New Plan of Government
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Roots of Government 207 – The delegates that produced the Constitution studied history, as far back as ancient Greece, to
the parliamentary system in Britain and many had been involved in the colonial and stat assemblies….from this knowledge
they hoped to avoid past mistakes in the new government.
British System 208 – A parliamentary system that controlled the funds and a judicial system that valued individual rights.
Magna Carta 208 – signed in 1215 this placed limits on the power of the monarch.
Natural rights 208 – John Locke ad English philosopher (part of the Enlightenment movement of the 1700’s) believed that all
people have these rights, including life, liberty and property. James Madison and other framers of our constitution knew their
works and ideas.
Spirit of laws 208 – A French writer named Baron de Montesquieu declared that the powers of government should be
separated and balanced against each other, in order to keep any group from gaining too much power.
Federal system 208 – A system dividing the power between the national (or federal) government and the state.
Shared powers – Federalism 208 – the sharing of powers between the federal and state governments.
Powers of state and federal government 208-209 – The federal government has the power to tax, regulate trade, control the
currency, raise and army and declare war. It can also pass laws to carry out its responsibilities. The States can pass and
enforce laws and regulate trade within its borders, they can establish schools, local governments and other institutions
affecting welfare of its citizens. Both can tax and build roads.
Organization of government – Articles 209 – Organized into 3 branches – legislative, executive and judicial. The first 3
articles describe the power of each.
Legislative branch and powers 209 – the lawmaking branch is composed of 2 houses, The House of Representatives and
Senate. House members per state are proportional to states population and Senate has 2 from each state.
Executive branch and powers 209 – Headed by a President to carry out laws and policies. Serves as head of armed forces and
conducts relations abroad.
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Electoral College 210 – Each state elects people to cast the states vote for President and Vice President. Each state has as a
number of members = to the number of that state’s House and Senate members.
Judicial branch 210 – the court system has a Supreme Court that resides over any lower courts and settles disputes dealing
with the Constitution, laws passed by Congress and disputes between the states.
Checks and balances 210 – these are rules built into the Constitution to ensure that no single branch can dominate the
government.
Veto 210 – The President has the power to reject laws passed by Congress. Congress can also override the President’s veto
by a 2/3 vote of both houses.
Natural citizens 211 – The Constitution created citizens of the U.S.
Ratify 211 – a process of approving. 9 states had to approve the Constitution…Rhode Island opposed it from the beginning.
Federalist 211 – the name for supporters of the new Constitution.
Who are federalists and what is their opinion? 211 – These supports of the Constitution included George Washington, Ben
Franklin, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton and John Jay.
Federalist papers 211 – Madison, Hamilton and Jay wrote a series of essays explaining and defending the Constitution. These
were printed in newspapers and were widely read by Americans. They were later published in a book.
Antifederalist 212 – The name for those Americans opposed to the ratification of the Constitution.
Protecting rights 212 – the strongest criticism of the Constitution was the lack of protection of individual rights.
Antifederalist thought no government could be trusted to protect the freedom of its citizens. Many states refused to sign
without protecting rights.
Bill of Rights – A group of rights protecting individual freedom, including, life, liberty, property. . Many states refused to sign
the Constitution without a Bill of Rights.
Fears of the federalists and antifederalists 212 – Federalist feared disorder without a strong central government.
Antifederalist feared government oppression. Many states refused to sign without protecting rights.
Adopting the Constitution 213 – Delaware was the first state to adopt the Constitution on December 7, 1787; New
Hampshire was the 9th state in May 1788. However, New York and Virginia were the 2 largest states and their approval was
critical. Virginia finally adopted it in June 1788 after gaining assurance that a Bill of Rights would be added. The last 3 states
to sign were New York in July 1788, North Carolina in Nov. 1789 and Rhode Island in May 1790.
Patrick Henry 213 – a Virginian that gave fiery speeches against the proposed Constitution, he said it did not sufficiently limit
the power of the federal government—he refused to attend the Constitutional Convention, saying he smelled a rat!
Amendment 213 – something added to a document. The Bill of Rights was added to the Constitution in 1791.