Notes

Ratification: The process of approving something by a vote.

Export: A product taken from one country to another for the purpose of trade.

Delegate: A person who represents others at a meeting.

Interstate trade: trade from one state to another.

Tariff: A tax on goods that one nation buys from another nation.

Levy: To impose taxes

Key Points
Under the Articles of Confederation, the central government couldn’t levy taxes or regulate trade.
The Shays Rebellion was unsuccessful, but it encouraged national leaders to seek alternatives to the Articles of Confederation.
Delegates at the Constitutional Convention initially planned to revise the Articles of Confederation, but eventually decided to discard the Articles and start from scratch.
The two plans for representation in the United States Congress were the New Jersey Plan and the Virginia Plan.
The Three-Fifths Compromise determined that each slave would count as three-fifths of a person. In determining the population of a state, five slaves would count as three people.Federalists supported the Constitution; Anti-Federalists opposed it.

popular sovereignty: rule by the people

checks and balances: Controls given to one branch of government to limit the power of another branch

26th amendment: lowered voting age to 18

nineteenth amendment: women's right to vote

Thirteenth amendment: abolished slavery

tenth amendment: Powers not given to the federal government are reserved to the states

sixth amendment: right to due process

fourth amendment: protection from illegal search

second amendment: the right to bear arms

The First Amendment: Freedom of religion, speech, press, assembly, and petition

Article IV of the Constitution: Relations between the states

Bill of rights: First 10 amendments to the Constitution

judicial review: The power to interpret the Constitution

Three Main Sections of the Constitution: Preamble, articles, and amendments

Capital Crime: A crime that’s punishable by death

Impeachment: The process by which a government leader is charged with a crime

Quorum: The number of members that must be present to conduct business

legislative branch: The part of a government that makes the laws of the country or state

Key Points
The US Constitution is divided into seven Articles.
The legislative branch of the government consists of a Congress with the power to make laws.
Congress includes two houses: a House of Representatives and a Senate.
A bill is a proposal for a law.
A candidate for president of the United States must be a natural-born citizen, at least 35 years old, and a resident for at least 14 years within the United States.
Impeachment is the process by which a government leader is charged with a crime.
The Supreme Court has the power of judicial review and can strike down a law that it considers to go against the Constitution.
The first 10 amendments to the Constitution are known as the Bill of Rights.
A proposal can be ratified by approval of three-fourths of the state legislatures or conventions in three-fourths of the states.
The Eighteenth Amendment, which denied Americans the legal use of alcoholic beverages, was repealed in 1933.


Three-Fourths of the State Legislatures: what an amendment to the constitution can be ratified by.

Brown v. Education: Made school segregation illegal

Plessy v. Ferguson: The supreme court declared the "separate but equal" doctrine.

Marbury v. Madison: Established the right of the Supreme Court to overturn laws deemed unconstitutional

Grant seal of the republic: used to authenticate certain documents issued by the US federal government.

repeal: to end or remove a law

checks and balances: Controls given to one branch of government to limit the power of another branch

Key Points
Judicial review became established for the Supreme Court through the legal case of Marbury v. Madison in 1803.
The Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka Kansas Supreme Court decision ended segregation in public schools and made other kinds of segregation unconstitutional.