US Constitution and Founding Concepts

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Constitution

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a set of basic principles that determine the powers and duties of a government

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Articles of Confederation

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the document that created the first central government of the United States

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Ratification

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The official way to confirm something, usually by vote.

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Northwest Territory

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lands organized by the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, including preset-day Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin

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Constitutional Convention

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a meeting held in Philadelphia at which delegates from the states wrote the Constitution

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James Madison

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a delegate from Virginia who became known as the "father of the Constitution" because of his important proposals at the Constitutional Convention

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Virginia Plan

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a plan for government proposed at the Constitutional Convention in which the national government would have supreme power and a bicameral legislative branch with representation determined by state population

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New Jersey Plan

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a proposed plan at the Constitutional Convention to create a unicameral legislature with equal representation of states rather than representation by population

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Great Compromise

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an agreement worked out at the Constitutional Convention establishing that a state's population would determine representation in the lower house of the legislature, while each state would have equal representation in the upper house

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Three-Fifths Compromise

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an agreement worked out at the Constitutional Convention stating that only three-fifths of a state's slaves would count when determining a state's population for representation in the lower house of Congress