the first written plan of government for the United States. A confederation is an association of states that cooperate for a common purpose.

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.

a law passed by Congress in 1787 that specified how western lands would be governed

a meeting held in Philadelphia in 1787 at which delegates from the states wrote the U.S. Constitution

the “Age of Reason” in 17th- and 18th-century Europe. Enlightenment thinkers emphasized using rational thought to discover truths about nature and society.

a written plan that provides the basic framework of a government

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.

the group established by the Constitution to elect the president and vice president. Voters in each state choose their electors when they vote for president.

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

to formally approve a plan or an agreement. The process of approval is called ratification.

a country governed by elected representatives

opponents of ratifying the U.S. Constitution. They favored the loose association of states established under the Articles of Confederation.

supporters of ratifying the U.S. Constitution. They favored the creation of a strong federal government that shared power with the states.

a series of essays written by James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay in support of the ratification of the Constitution by the states