Jacky Au-Yeung and Andy Liu

Constitution: A nation's basic law; it creates political institutions, assigns or divides power of government, and often provides certain guarantees to citizens.

Declaration of Independence: the document that stated the colonies grievances against the british monarchy and declared their independence. 

Natural Rights: rights inherent in human beings, not dependent on governments, which include life, liberty, and property.

Consent of the Governed: the idea that governments derives its authority from the people.

Limited Government: the idea that certain restrictions should be placed on government to protect the natural rights of the natural rights of citizens

Articles of Confederation: the first constitution of the United States, adopted by Congress in 1777 and ratified in 1781, establishing the Continental Congress as the national legislature but leaving most of the state authority with the state legislatures

Shay’s Rebellion: A series of attacks on courthouses by a small band of farmers led by Revolutionary War captain Daniel Shays to block foreclosure proceedings.

U.S. Constitution: The document written in 1787 and ratified in 1788 that sets forth the institutional structure of U.S. government, the tasks these institutions perform and the relationships among them. It replaced the Articles of Confederation.

Factions: Groups such as parties or interest groups, which according to James Madison arose from the unequal distribution of property or wealth and had the potential to cause instability in government

New Jersey Plan: The proposal at the Constitutional Convention that called for equal representation of each state in Congress regardless of the state’s population.

Virginia Plan: the proposal at the Constitutional Convention that called for representation of each state in Congress in proportion to that state’s share of the US population.

Federalist: Supporters of the U.S Constitution at the time the states were contemplating its adoption 

Anti-federalist: Opponents of the U.S Constitution at the time when the states were contemplating its adoption

Federalist Papers: A set of 85 essays that advocate ratification of the constitution and provide insightful commentary on the nature of the new system of government

Bill of Rights: The first 10 amendments, which restrain the government from limiting personal freedoms

Writ of habeas corpus - court order of requiring authorities to explain to a judge what a lawful reason they have for holding a prisoner in custody

Separation of power - requires each of 3 branches of government (executive, legislative, executive); relatively independent of each other so that one cannot control the other; power shared among 3 institutions

Checks and balances - each branch of the federal government obtains the consent of the other for its actions; limits the power of each branch

Republic - form of government which people elects representatives to govern and make laws

Equal Rights Amendment: constitutional amendment in 1972 which pushed for “equal rights under the law regardless of sex”. It failed due to lack of support from states during state legislation.

Marbury v. Madison: Supreme Court case in 1803 where the court asserted its power to properly define the constitution called judicial review.

Judicial review: Power to judge if actions from the legislative or executive branch are consistent within the constitution. 

Connecticut Compromise: The compromise reached at the Constitutional Convention that established houses of Congress: the House of Representatives, in which representation is based on a state’s share of the U.S. population; representation is based on a state's’ share of the U.S. population; and the Senate, in which each state has two representatives