1. Unit 1 COLONIAL AND GOVERNMENT VOCABULARY

2. Subject Under the rule of the monarch

3. Government The people and institutions with authority to make and enforce the laws and manage disputes about laws.

4. Self-Sufficient Able to provide for oneself without the help of others; independent.

5. Indentured Servant Men and women who sold their labor in exchange for the cost of the trip from Europe to the colonies.

6. Founders The founders were the political leaders of the colonies. They helped to create the state governments, and their ideas influenced the writing of the Constitution.

7. State of Nature A condition in which no governments or laws existed at all

8. Natural Rights Being human means you have the right to life, liberty, and property.

9. Consent Approve something or allow something to take place.

10. Social Contract People set up the government and give it power to protect their own rights.

11. Purpose of Government To protect those natural rights that the individual cannot effectively protect in a state of nature.

12. Aristocrat Wealthy upper class

13. Republic Country that has a government in which power is held by the people who elect representatives

14. Delegate Entrust power to elected leaders to represent them and to serve their interests

15. Common Good Good for the community as a whole.

16. Representative A person elected to act and speak for others.

17. Faction Interest groups

18. Higher Law Set of laws that establish and limit the power of government

19. Civic Virtue Citizens and their leaders were willing to set aside their private interests and personal concerns for the common good.

20. Private Domain Part of a person’s life that is not the business of government

21. Constitution A legal framework for government. It tells how a government is organized and run.

22. constitutional government Limited power of the people or group running the government

23. autocratic or dictatorial government A government with unlimited power

24. Monarchy Form of government in which political power is held by a single ruler such as a king or queen

25. Bill A proposed law that must be signed by the president to become a law.

26. Checks and balances A phrase that means the powers of the different branches of government are limited

27. Legislative branch Has the power to make laws

28. Executive branch Has the power to carry out and enforce the laws

29. judicial branch Has the power to manage conflicts about the meaning, application and enforcement of the laws.

30. separation of powers Full power is not given to any one branch of government, instead it is divided into three separate branches.