Constitution Vocabulary

The original plan for America’s government that was

far too weak, had no power to tax, no executive, and

was thrown out after the Constitutional Convention.

• Declaration of Independence
• Articles of Confederation
• Bill of Rights
• Emancipation Proclamation

Meeting of state delegates in 1787 to (at first) fix the

Articles of Confederation. However, they quickly

decided they needed to draft a new system of

government.

• Massachusette Convention

• New York Convention

• Philadelphia Convention

• Virginia Convention

Based representation in Congress on each state’s population.

Favored by large states because it gave them more power.

• Virginial Plan

• New Jersey Plan

• New York Plan

• Delaware Plan

The Plan called for each state to have one vote in

Congress instead of the number of votes being based

on population. It was introduced William Paterson, a

New Jersey delegate, on June 15, 1787.

• Rhode Island Plan

• Virginia Plan

• South Carolina Plan

• New Jersey Plan

Agreement on legislative representation, which

included a two-house legislature, made up of the

Senate and the House of Representatives

• New York Plan

• Virginia Plan

• New Jersey Plan

• Great Compromise

System within government so that no branch gets too

powerful because the other branches can “check” it.

• Grant of powers

• Checks and balances
• Branch control
• Government oversight

A system of government in which power is shared

between the federal government and the states.

• Theocracy

• Monarchy
• Anarchy
• Federalism

A set of anonymous essays written by Alexander

Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay defending

the Constitution.

• The Federalist Papers
• The Constitution Chronicles
• The Anti-Federalist Papers
• The Founding Fathers' Essays

The first 10 Amendments to the Constitution that

were written to satisfy demands for protecting the

rights of the people in America.

• Bill of Rights
• Articles of Confederation
• Constitutional Amendments
• Declaration of Independence