Creating the Constitution Vocabulary

-The first written plan of government for the United States. A confederation is an association of states that cooperate for a common purpose.

• Articles of Confederation

• The Constitutional Convention

• The Federalist Papers

• The Great Compromise

A written plan that provides the basic framework of a government.

• A Resolution

• The Fundamental Orders

• An Amendement

• A Constitution

A meeting held in Philadelphia in 1787 at which delegates from the states wrote the U.S. Constitution.

• Congress

• Constitutional Convention

• First Continental Congress

• The Northwest Ordinance

The group established by the Constitution to elect the president and vice president. Voters in each state choose their electors.

• The Senate

• The Electoral College

• The House of Representatives

• The Constitutional Convention

The "Age of Reason" in 17th and 18th-century Europe. Enlightenment thinkers emphasized using rational thought to discover truths about nature and society.

• Enlightenment

• The Great Compromise

• The Federalist Papers

• Republic

A series of essays written by James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay in support of the ratification of the Constitution by the states.

• Articles of Confederation

• Constitution

• The Federalist Papers

• The Great Compromise

The plan of government adopted at the Constitutional Convention that established a two-house Congress. In the House of Representatives, representation from each state is based on state population. In the Senate, each state is represented by two senators.

• The Great Compromise

• The Three-Fifths Compromise

• The Federalist Papers

• The Articles of Confederation

A law passed by Congress in 1787 that specified how western lands would be governed.

• The Northwest Territory

• The Northwest Ordinance

• Republic

• Constitution

A region of the United States bounded by the Ohio and Mississippi rivers and the Great Lakes. The region was given to the United States by the Treaty of Paris in 1783.

• Republic

• Ratify

• Northwest Ordinance

• Northwest Territory

To formally approve a plan or an agreement. The process of approval is called ratification.

• Enlightenment

• Republic

• Ratify

• Electoral College