US Constitution Vocabulary

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Across
  1. 3. College the group established by the Constitution to elect the president and vice president. Voters in each state choose their electors.
  2. 7. and balances A system that allows each branch of government to limit the powers of the other two branches
  3. 9. a written plan that provides the basic framework of a government
  4. 10. branch of the government that carries out, or executes, the laws
  5. 11. of Powers a key constitutional principle that divides the functions of government among three branches, legislative, executive, and judicial, to prevent any one branch from gaining too much power
  6. 13. Compromise an agreement made at the Constitutional Convention stating that enslaved persons would be counted as three-fifths of a person when determining a state's population for representation in the House of Representatives
  7. 15. to formally approve a plan or an agreement. The process of approval is called ratification.
  8. 16. Federalist Papers a series of essays written by James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay in support of the ratification of the Constitution by the states
  9. 18. Compromise the plan of government adopted at the Constitutional Convention that established a two-house Congress. In the House of Representatives, representation from each state is based on state population. In the Senate, each state is represented by two senators.
  10. 19. the constitutional system that shares power between the national and state governments
  11. 20. jeopardy putting a person on trial more than once for the same crime
  12. 22. Sovereignty the idea that the government's authority comes from the people
Down
  1. 1. Territory a region of the United States bounded by the Ohio and Mississippi rivers and the Great Lakes. The region was given to the United States by the Treaty of Paris in 1783.
  2. 2. process the concept that the government must follow clear rules and act reasonably as it carries out the law
  3. 4. of Confederation the first written plan of government for the United States. A confederation is an association of states that cooperate for a common purpose.
  4. 5. branch of the government, consisting of the Supreme Court and lower federal courts, that interprets the laws
  5. 6. the "Age of Reason" in 17th- and 18th-century Europe. Enlightenment thinkers emphasized using rational thought to discover truths about nature and society.
  6. 8. Convention a meeting held in Philadelphia in 1787 at which delegates from the states wrote the U.S. Constitution
  7. 12. Ordinance a law passed by Congress in 1787 that specified how western lands would be governed
  8. 14. a country governed by elected representatives
  9. 17. Review, power of the Supreme Court to decide whether the acts of a president or laws passed by Congress are constitutional
  10. 21. of Rights a formal listing of the basic rights of U.S. citizens