Constitutional Convention & Ratification Debate

The act of speaking or acting on behalf of a group or individuals to express their interests and concerns in a political system.

• representation
• protest
• lobbying

The number of enslaved individuals within a specific region or territory.

• slave census

• slave headcount

• slave demographics

• slave population

Supporters of a strong central government and the ratification of the US Constitution.

• Separatists
• Federalists
• Confederates
• Anti-Federalists

Opponents of a strong central government and the US Constitution who feared that it would infringe upon individual liberties and the powers of the states.

• Federalists
• Constitutionalists
• Anti-Federalists
• Pro-Federalists

A series of essays written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay to promote the ratification of the US Constitution.

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

The fundamental framework of laws, principles, and rules that establish and govern a nation's government and the rights and responsibilities of its citizens.

• Magna Carta
• Bill of Rights
• Constitution
• Declaration of Independence

A gathering of delegates from the original thirteen American colonies to draft and create the US Constitution in 1787.

• Constitutional Convention
• Declaration of Independence
• Boston Tea Party
• Emancipation Proclamation

An agreement reached at the Constitutional Convention which established a bicameral legislature with representation based on both population and equal representation for states.

• New Jersey Plan
• Virginia Plan
• Three-Fifths Compromise
• Great Compromise

A proposal presented at the Constitutional Convention that advocated for equal representation of states in a unicameral legislature, which favored smaller states.

• New Jersey Plan
• Connecticut Plan
• Virginia Plan
• Pennsylvania Plan

A proposal at the Constitutional Convention that called for a bicameral legislature with representation based on a state's population, favoring larger states.

• Virginia Plan

• New Jersey Plan

• Connecticut Plan

• DC Plan