Jefferson

Unit Two Vocabulary

1. •  12th Amendment

Description: The 12th Amendment states that the President is elected by an electoral college, but should there be no majority vote for one person, the House of Representatives (one vote per state) chooses the president and the Senate the vice president.

Importance: The 12th Amendment states how to elect a President or Vice President without majority electoral vote. It set up the rules for the Electoral College as we know them today. For example, it reduced the number of votes an elector could cast from two to one, as one vote goes to President and the other vote goes toward the Vice President. It was significant in the election of 1800.

2. •  Aaron Burr

Description: Aaron Burr was the vice president to Thomas Jefferson who dropped from the cabinet in Jefferson’s second term. He plotted succession of New York and New England, and shot Hamilton with one shot in duel for revenge.

Importance: Aaron Burr had a negative role on America as he got Americans to oppose the newly formed government. He committed acts of treason against the United States, and in some ways set a negative example for other Americans to follow.

3. •  Abigail Adams

Description: Abigail Adams was the wife to John Adams who wrote “The Ladies” to her husband in an attempt to give women political rights, and the overarching concept of equality for women.

Importance: Abigail Adams ignited a feministic spirit into the states that allowed women to exhibit a “republican motherhood” into the nation, as democracy depended on every citizen. The call for equality by Adams elevated women to a new role as the “special keepers” of the nation’s morals.

4. •  Alexander Hamilton and the Federalist Papers

Description: Alexander Hamilton was the leader of the Federalists who emerged as a major political figure during the debate over the Constitution. He is one of the authors of the Federalist Papers who convinced those for ratification of the...