The Constitution

2. a basic set of ideas used to develop a larger plan
3. a written plan that provides the basic framework of a government
6. 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.
7. supporting ideas of freedom, change, and progress
8. to formally approve a plan or an agreement. The process of approval is called ratification.
11. the group established by the Constitution to elect the president and vice president. Voters in each state choose their electors.
13. a strong disagreement
15. a country governed by elected representatives
16. a meeting held in Philadelphia in 1787 at which delegates from the states wrote the U.S. Constitution
17. 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.

1. contradictiona difference between two statements or situations that means they cannot both be true
4. a series of essays written by James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay in support of the ratification of the Constitution by the states
5. 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.
9. Three-Fifths Compromisean 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
10. a law passed by Congress in 1787 that specified how western lands would be governed
12. to agree or pledge to support someone or something
14. the “Age of Reason” in 17th- and 18th-century Europe. Enlightenment thinkers emphasized using rational thought to discover truths about nature and society.