Chapter 2

AP Government Name: Conor Frizelle
Murphy Date Completed: 10/8
Assignment: Chapter 2 – The Constitution
Vocabulary/Definitions: AP Government is a vocabulary-heavy class. As such, you are expected to have working
definitions – preferably in your own words - of all of the words listed for each chapter.
Vocabulary: Your Definition

Constitution A document that outlines how a government will rule and what that will look like
Republic A government run by the people by representatives
Articles of Confederation Attempted to create the first union of the 13 colonies, emphasized state power
Unicameral One housed
Shay’s Rebellion Uprising against Massachusetts by farmers that fought in the war and were mad they
weren’t getting paid
Constitutional Convention A meeting that was going to fix the AoC, created the constitution as we know it today
Writ of habeus corpus A right of the people that, when detained, they should know what charges are against
them
Bill of attainder When a legislature decides someone is guilty without a trail
Ex post facto laws Laws punishing people for acts that were not crimes while they were committing them
Virginia plan 3 branches, bicameral legislature, basically house of reps
New jersey plan Unicameral, basically the senate
Grand committee Worked out a way to find a compromise between the two ideas
Great compromise Created the way the government is structured today, name of the compromise found
Bicameral Two housed
3/5 compromise The compromise found between slave states and non-slave states that gave a slave
3/5s of the representation in a state
Compromise on Unrestricted slave trade until 1808
importation
Separation of powers The design of the government that distributes power across institutions to avoid
tyranny
Checks and balances Each branch of government has powers that can prevent the other branches from
making policies
Federalism The idea of sharing power between national government and state government
Legislative branch Responsible for making laws
Expressed/enumerated Authority explicitly granted to a branch from the constitution
powers
Necessary and proper The exact language from the constitution that granted congress power to do what it
clause needs to do
Implied powers When the authority of the federal government goes beyond its expressed powers
Executive branch Carries out what the legislative branch does
Judicial branch Decides what is constitutional and not
Supremacy clause Creates the supreme law of the land, that the constitution and other treaties are the
most important and need to be followed everywhere that the gov has jurisdiction
Amendment The way changes are made to the constitution
Federalists The people who support federalism, called for a strong national government
Anti-federalists People that are against federalism, called for a weak national government
Federalist papers A bunch of essays that explain why the constitution works the way that it does
Faction A group of selfish people that will do whatever it takes to get what they want
Federalist 10 Argues that the dangers of factions can be avoided through proper use of a republic
governmental style
Federalist 51 Argues that separation of powers and the rest of federalism ideas will prevent tyranny
Brutus 1 The name of an antifederalist paper that argued that the US was too big to be
governed by a republic (spreading misinformation irl 🐬🐬🌈🌈)
Using the Content: Write a response to the prompts for each section of the reading. Each of the following is written in
the style of an AP prompt, and – when responded to appropriately – will require you to utilize the content of the
associated section. Make sure to correctly use the vocabulary and content from the book in your responses.
Section 2.1:
1. Explain how specific weaknesses in the Articles of Confederation led to the proposal for a new, stronger
federal government.
Weaknesses in the Articles of Confederation led to fear among the elite and the people that the government was
not strong enough to actually do anything. For example, Shay’s rebellion illustrated how the government was
incompetent when attempting to raise an army. When the farmers initially rebelled, they made it quite a long way
through the countryside of Massachusetts, with little to no opposition. The elites were fearful that they would
cause enough harm to incite another revolution, so they put them down with their large amounts of money. This
was quite frightening for the national government, as their inability to do anything put on display their
incompetence. Another example of how the AoC was too weak can be found in taxes. They couldn’t enforce tax
collection at all. The national government was not able to receive an adequate amount of taxes. This is problem is
self-explanatory, and after the 5 years that the AoC existed, they only received 1/6 of the amount they asked for.
Section 2.2:
1. Using examples from the reading, explain how the Constitution was shaped by negotiation and compromise.
At the constitutional convention, the constitution was constantly argued about and debated over, and this led to
the extreme amounts of compromise that is in it. For example, the great compromise came to be through the
arguments from those who believed in the New Jersey plan and the Virginia plan. After debating and arguing for
many days, the grand committee was able to incorporate the most important ideas from both sides of the
argument, and thus was able to shape the constitution. Another example is the 3/5 compromise. It states that a
slave shall be worth 3/5 of a person in terms of representation for the house of representatives. This number,
although odd, was determined by the likes of negotiation and compromise between slave states and free states.
Similar to the great compromise, they debated about this for days, and were eventually able to agree on a number
to be added into the constitution, thereby shaping it.
Section 2.3:
1. Describe the system of checks and balances and separation of powers.
Checks and balances and separation of powers are both actions that attempt to reduce the chance of tyranny
occurring in the US. For example, in congress when they pass a bill, they need approval from both houses first. Just a
simple majority, then it goes to the president to sign it into existence. If he decides to veto it, then the houses can
override the veto with a super majority. This idea of checks and balances also applies to the separation of powers.
When the legislative branch creates a law, their job is done. It now falls to the executive branch to enforce it, but if
people start questioning the law, then the judicial branch has to affirm that it is constitutional.
2. Explain the impact of checks and balances on the political system.

The impact of checks and balances on the political system means that a minority party can still have an impact
on the government. For example, if a president is democrat and the legislative branch is republican, then it is
obvious that both parties play a big role in politics at the time. This means that both will have influence on the
government, and this is due to how checks and balances play out in the political system.
Section 2.4:
1. Compare and contrast the arguments presented by the Federalists and Antifederalists during the ratification
debates.
Federalist and anti-federalist arguments were similar in the way that they both called for a stronger national
government, as that was the obvious flaw in the Articles of Confederation at the time. The fact that the national
government had literally zero power was something that both parties wanted to change. However, the arguments
presented by both parties were mostly contrasting. The federalists wanted to swing the pendulum of national
power closer to the strong side, where they believed that having a strong national government was central to how
a republic would function, whereas the Anti-federalists thought the opposite. In Brutus I they argued that a
country like the United States was too big to have a republic function properly, and that the states needed to be
strong in order to keep the union together.

Chapter 2

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Chapter 2

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

AP Government Name: Conor Frizelle

Murphy Date Completed: 10/8

Assignment: Chapter 2 – The Constitution

Vocabulary: Your Definition

governed by a republic (spreading misinformation irl 🐬🐬🌈🌈)

1. Describe the system of checks and balances and separation of powers.

2. Explain the impact of checks and balances on the political system.

You might also like