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U.S. History

Key Terms

U.S. HistoryKey Terms

Key Terms

Anti-Federalists
those who opposed the 1787 Constitution and favored stronger individual states
bicameral
having two legislative houses, an upper and a lower house
checks and balances
the system that ensures a balance of power among the branches of government
Connecticut Compromise
also known as the Great Compromise, Roger Sherman’s proposal at the Constitutional Convention for a bicameral legislature, with the upper house having equal representation for all states and the lower house having proportional representation
conservative Whigs
the politically and economically elite revolutionary class that wanted to limit political participation to a few powerful families
coverture
the legal status of married women in the United States, which included complete legal and economic dependence on husbands
democracy
a system of government in which the majority rules
Electoral College
the mechanism by which electors, based on the number of representatives from each state, choose the president
Federalists
those who supported the 1787 Constitution and a strong central government; these advocates of the new national government formed the ruling political party in the 1790s
majority rule
a fundamental principle of democracy, providing that the majority should have the power to make decisions binding upon the whole
manumission
the releasing of an enslaved person by his or her owner
monarchy
a form of government with a monarch at its head
proportional representation
representation that gives more populous states greater political power by allowing them more representatives
radical Whigs
revolutionaries who favored broadening participation in the political process
three-fifths compromise
the agreement at the Constitutional Convention that three out of every five enslaved persons would be counted when determining a state's population for purposes of representation
unicameral
having a single house (of legislative government)
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