Alexander Hamilton: Federalist 84

Glossary

• abridgements of prerogative in favor of privilege limitations on the power of rulers
• adverting calling attention to
• bill of attainder a legislative act declaring a party or parties guilty of a crime without trial
• colorable deceptive
• common and statute law laws that result from previous judicial rulings and laws passed by a legislative body
• constructive powers the ability to interpret laws broadly
• corruption of blood a penalty under English law, whereby relatives of an individual convicted of treason could not inherit property from that person
• Declaration of Right the English Bill of Rights, declared by Parliament in 1689
• ex-post-facto law a law that attempts to punish for offenses committed prior to the time that law was adopted
• intemperate partisans impassioned supporters of a particular position
• Lords and Commons the two houses of the English Parliament
• Magna Carta the “Great Charter,” signed by King John of England in 1215, which granted specific rights to citizens and required the king to obey the law
• Petition of Right a demand for civil liberties issued by the British Parliament to King Charles I in 1628
• Prince of Orange William of Orange, a Dutch nobleman who replaced James II as English monarch (and took the title William III) in the Glorious Revolution of 1688
• republicanism government by elected officials, rather than monarchs or dictators
• writ of habeas corpus a guarantee that individuals cannot be imprisoned without being formally charged in a court of law