confederacy
Other forms: confederacies
A confederacy is a political union. The most famous American confederacy consisted of the southern states who fought the northern states in the American Civil War.
When you confederate — that is, join together for a common purpose — what you get is a confederacy. Americans will never forget a well-known but ill-fated confederacy, the Confederate States of America: an unrecognized state that formed in 1861, uniting the slave states that left the United States at the time of the Civil War. Any such political union could be called a confederacy (or a federation). When you see the word confederacy, think of togetherness in the political realm.
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a union of political organizationssynonyms: confederation, federationtypes:nationa federation of tribes (especially Native American tribes)Creek Confederacya North American Indian confederacy organized by the Muskogee that dominated the southeastern part of the United States before being removed to OklahomaHanseatic Leaguea commercial and defensive confederation of free cities in northern Germany and surrounding areas; formed in 1241 and most influential in the 14th century when it included over 100 towns and functioned as an independent political power; the last official assembly was held in 1669type of:uniona political unit formed from previously independent people or organizations
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a group of conspirators banded together to achieve some harmful or illegal purposesynonyms: conspiracy
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a secret agreement between two or more people to perform an unlawful actsynonyms: conspiracytypes:conspiracy of silencea conspiracy not to talk about some situation or eventtype of:
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Vocabulary lists containing confederacy
Derived from Latin, the English suffix -acy in English means "the state of" or "the quality or condition of."
The collection of essays known as The Federalist Papers was written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay between 1787 and 1788, under the pseudonym Publius. The writers' main objective was to garner support for the ratification of the U.S. Constitution. Federalist No. 1 by Hamilton is both an introduction to and a blueprint for the collection. In this essay, Hamilton considers whether society is capable of forming a just government based on rational choice. Read the full text here.
Also known as The Great Binding Law, this document established a representative confederacy of five tribes: Mohawk, Oneida, Seneca, Cuyuga, and Onondaga. Its exact date is uncertain (possible years are 1142, 1451, and 1525), but many historians agree that it is the first constitution in the New World. Here is a link to the full text: Iroquois Constitution Compare the words in these lists: Iroquois Constitution, Fundamental Orders of Connecticut, US Constitution