APUSH Unit 3 Chapter 9.pdf - Chapter 9 The Confederation...

Chapter 9 : The Confederation and Constitution
Key Terms Definition
Articles of Confederation ● first American constitution that established the United States as a loose
confederation of states under a weak national Congress
○ Not granted the power to regulate commerce or collect taxes.
○ No executive branch (Anti-England)
○ States rule and create their own constitutions
● They were replaced by a more efficient Constitution in 1789
Constitution ● Basic : Separation of Powers - Executive, Legislative, Judicial
● Checks and balances, bill of rights (first 10 amendments to constitution)
Old Northwest ● territories acquired by the federal government from the states,
encompassing land northwest of the Ohio River, east of the Mississippi
River and south of the Great Lakes
● well-organized management and sale of the land in the territories under
the land ordinances of 1785 and 1787 established a precedent for handling
future land acquisitions.
Land Ordinance of 1785 ● provided for the sale of land in the Old Northwest and earmarked the
proceeds toward repaying the national debt
Northwest Ordinance ● created a policy for administering the Northwest Territories. It included a
path to statehood and forbade the expansion of slavery into the
territories.
○ Problems with English in Great Lakes and Spain on Mississippi
River
○ Pirates in the Mediterranean
Shay’s Rebellion ● (Fall 1785) armed uprising of western Massachusetts debtors seeking
lower taxes and an end to property foreclosures.
○ Small, poor farmers rising up with Daniel Shays
○ Moment when more states see problems with Articles
● Though quickly put down, the insurrection inspired fears of "mob rule"
among leading Revolutionaries.
Virginia Plan ● "large state" proposal for the new constitution
○ calling for proportional representation in both houses of a
bicameral Congress.
● The plan favored larger states and this prompted smaller states to come
back with their own plan for apportioning representation.
New Jersey Plan ● "small-state plan" put forth at the Philadelphia convention
○ proposing equal representation by state, regardless of
population, in a unicameral legislature.
● Small states feared that the more populous states would dominate the
agenda under a proportional system
Great Compromise ● popular term for the measure which reconciled the New Jersey and
Virginia plans at the constitutional convention, giving states proportional
representation in the House and equal representation in the Senate.