11th Grade Midterm Review

The Enlightenment

• John Locke- Social Contract. Right to life, liberty and property. Right to revolution. Ideas contained in the Declaration of Independence.

• Montesquieu- separation of powers and a system of checks and balances.

Greece and Rome

• Greeks- democracy

• Romans- written law

Mayflower & House of Burgesses

• Mayflower Compact: Agreement signed by the Pilgrims before landing at Plymouth.

• Contract in which the colonists consented to be governed by a government that they created- self government.

• House of Burgesses: Virginia colonists created the first representative law making body.

Common Sense

• Pamphlet written by Thomas Paine• He wrote that it is ridiculous for the American

colonies occupying a great continent, to be ruled by a tiny island like Britain.

Declaration of Independence

• Written by Thomas Jefferson• Purpose: Justify the reasons the colonies

had decided to become the U.S.A.• Key Ideas: People have natural rights• Governments receive their power to

govern from “the consent of the governed.”• When government fails to protect those

rights, people have the right to alter or abolish it.

Articles of Confederation

• Weak central government. States had all the power.

• States coined their own money

• States made foreign treaties.

• No Federal military.

• States did not have to pay taxes to the Federal government.

Great Compromise

• Problem: Large states wanted representation based on population. Small states wanted equal representation.

• Solution: Bicameral Legislature- Congress.

• Senate- equal representation.

• House of Representatives based on population.

Federalist Papers

• A series of persuasive essays in favor of ratification of the Constitution.

• Written by: Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison.

Articles of Confederation/ Constitution

• Constitution provided a strong central government with division of power between state and federal government (federalism).

Bill of Rights

• First 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution, dealing mostly with civil rights.

bicameral

• A law making body comprised of two houses.

• Congress- Senate and House of Representatives.

Legislative Branch Responsibilities

• Ratify treaties

• Coin money

• Declare war

• Maintain an army and navy

• Regulate trade between states and with foreign countries.

Senate/House

• Bicameral legislature

• House- based on population.

• Senate- two reps from each state.

President Responsibilities

• Appoint Supreme Court Judges

• Sign bill into law

• Veto a bill

• Commander in chief

Power of the Supreme court

• Judicial Review- declare a law to be unconstitutional.

Marbury v. Madison

• Supreme Court case that established the precedent of Judicial Review.

• Example of the “unwritten Constitution.”

Checks and Balances

• Based on ideas of Montesquieu.

• Prevents one branch of government from becoming more powerful than the others.

• Example- A bill becoming a law.

Federalism

• The division of power between state and federal government.

• Delegated- Federal government

• Reserved- state government

• Concurrent- both

Amending Process

• Formally changing the Constitution.

• Congress approves by 2/3rd vote.

• ¾ of the states must ratify the amendment.

Implied Powers

• Powers of the federal government that are assumed to be necessary to carry out their enumerated powers.

Elastic Clause

• States that Congress can make all laws “necessary and proper” for carrying out the tasks listed in the Constitution.

• Stretches the powers of Congress.

Electoral College

• As assembly elected by the voters that meets every four years to formally elect the President.

• Winners of the popular vote have lost the presidency because they failed to win a majority of the electoral vote.

Unwritten Constitution

• Things that are done in American government that are based on tradition and past practice, rather than on the Constitution.

• Example: political parties.

Hamilton

• Financial Plan: protective tariff, national bank, whiskey tax and pay off all the war debts.

• Favored loose interpretation of the Constitution.

Precedents of Washington

• Cabinet

• Two terms in office

Farewell Address

• Neutrality

• Stay out of foreign affairs.

Whiskey Rebellion

• 1791- government imposed tax on whiskey.

• Angered farmers who distilled grain into whiskey.

• Pennsylvania farmers refused to pay the tax.

• Washington sent 15,000 troops.

Jefferson/ Hamilton Political Parties

• Jefferson: Democratic-Republican. Favored a strict interpretation of the Constitution.

• Hamilton: Federalist. Favored a loose interpretation.

Monroe Doctrine

• No further colonization of the Western Hemisphere.

• Any attempt to do so would be considered an act or war.

• In return, U.S. will stay out of affairs of Europe.

Spoils System

• Andrew Jackson

• Nepotism- giving jobs to friends/supporters.

Jackson

• Common man’s President

• Vetoes many acts of Congress

• Spoils System

• Trail of Tears

John Marshall

• Supreme Court Justice who strengthened the power of the Federal government.

Missouri Compromise of 1820 & Compromise of 1850

• 1820: Maine enters as a free state. Missouri as a slave state. Established 36’ 30 line.

• 1850: No slave trade in Washington, D.C., California a free state, stricter fugitive slave law and popular sovereignty in the Mexican Cession.

Seneca Falls

• 1848- First women’s rights convention held in Seneca Falls, N.Y.

• Elizabeth Cady Stanton convinced delegates that suffrage should be the first priority.

Manifest Destiny

• Belief that it was god’s will for expansion westward.

Louisiana Purchase

• Jefferson- switches to a loose interpretation of the Constitution.

• Bought from France.

• Doubled size of U.S.

• Gain Mississippi River

• Lewis and Clark Expedition

Indian Removal

• Andrew Jackson forced Indians west of the Mississippi River.

• Cherokees in Georgia refused. Won their case in the Supreme Court.

• Jackson moved them anyway.

• 1/4th died along the way.

Popular Sovereignty

• The will of the people (vote).

Election of 1860

• Abraham Lincoln is elected President due to a split in the Democratic Party.

• South secedes by the time he is inaugurated.

Emancipation Proclamation

• Freed the slaves in the “rebellious states” (South).

• Did not free slaves in the border states.

• War measure to make it a war over slavery.

Jim Crow Laws

• Laws passed by southern states after the Civil War that forced segregation of the races.

Plessy v. Ferguson

• Supreme Court case that legalized segregation.

• “separate but equal”

• Reconstruction failed.

Lincoln’s Plan for Reconstruction

• 10% Plan- ten percent of the male population of the state had to take the oath of loyalty.

• LENIENT

Johnson’s impeachment

• Dispute with Congress over Reconstruction.

• Violated the Tenure of Office Act.

• Found not guilty by 1 vote.

Result of Civil War

• Power of the Federal government was strengthened.

• States do not have the right to secede from the Union.