8th grade social studies unit 2

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Articles of Confederation

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First set of laws that govern the United States. Failures include: No national court system, no national army, weak national executive, lack of national currency, inability to raise taxes. States had more power than the federal government.

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Northwest Ordinance

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Ordinances (law/regulation) passed by Congress to establish organized and equitable procedures for the settlement of the Northwest Territory. Banned slavery.

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Northwest Territory

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Territory created by Congress in 1787 that expanded the size of the United States. This territory included what is now the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, and parts of Minnesota.

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Land Ordinance of 1785

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Law that established a plan for dividing federally owned lands west of the Appalachian Mountains.

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Shays’ Rebellion

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Farmers in Massachusetts demanding debt relief led an armed rebellion against the Massachusetts government following the Revolutionary War due to high taxes. Farms were seized, and debtors were arrested. This showed the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation in addressing financial challenges.

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Confederation

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A loose organization of people, groups, governments, or states. States under the Articles of Confederation were not unified.

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Constitutional Convention

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Held in 1787, this was a meeting that was called to address the problems of the Articles of Confederation, including the weaknesses of the federal government. As a result, the United States Constitution was created.

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New Jersey Plan

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A proposal for a Congress (legislature) in which each state would have one vote (equal representation). This favored small states.

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Virginia Plan

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A proposal for Congress to have 2 chambers with representation based upon the state’s population size.

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Great Compromise

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An agreement to establish a Congress with two chambers: equal representation in the Senate (New Jersey Plan) and representation based on population in the House of Representatives (Virginia Plan). It combined the New Jersey and Virginia Plans.