Northwestern Ordinance: A law passed in 1787 to regulate the settlement of the Northwest Territory, which eventually was divided into several states of the Middle West.
Shays's Rebellion: an armed uprising in Massachusetts, mostly in and around Springfield during 1786 and 1787. American Revolutionary War veteran Daniel Shays led four thousand rebels in a protest against economic and civil rights injustices.
Article of Confederation: an agreement among the 13 original states of the United States of America that served as its first constitution.
Republic: form of government in which a state is ruled by representatives of the citizen body.
Ordinance of 1785: It set up a standardized system whereby settlers could purchase title to farmland in the undeveloped west.
Virginia plan: proposal by Virginia delegates for a bicameral legislative branch.
New Jersey plan: was a proposal for the structure of the United States Government presented by William Paterson at the Constitutional Convention on June 15, 1787.
