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Definition
- (1215)
- Great Charter
- written by Barons in Runnymede, England
- limited to the perogatives of the Barons
- general principle that the King accepted limitations on his rule
- the king was not above the law
- illustrates Compact Theory and limited government
- protections for the English church, petitioning the king, freedoms forced from quarter of troops and unreasonable searches
- found in 1st, 4th, 6th, 8th amendments to the Constitution
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- (1620) written by William Bradford at Cape Cod, MA
- declaration of the passengers' intention to start the first colony in northern VA
- 41 of 102 passengers signed it
- based on Biblical covenating tradition
- expressed civi justice, equality, and responsibilities of citizenship
- not a governing document
- 1st basis for written laws in colonies
- expressed necessity of consent of the governed
- precursor the Consitution
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Term
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Definition
- (1628) 17th century
- King Charles I broke up Parliament
- Sir Edward Coke presented Petition of Right
- cited the Magna Carta and reminded Charles I that law was given to people not king himself
- focused on Charles's vilations of the law
- -which were denying people's due process, protectino from unjust seizure of property or imprisonment, right to trial by jury
- king accepted petition but broke his word again soon
- result was a civil war and beheading of king in 1649
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Term
| Fundamental Orders of Connecticut |
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Definition
- (1639) 1st written constitution in N.Am
- written by Puritan clergymen
- remained colony's law until 1662
- preamble, 11 orders, named "God's requirement" for way of governing
- proided for election of a governo rand 6 magistrates
- lawmaking, executive and judicial power and guidelines for representation and paying taxes
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| Massachusets Body of Liberties |
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Definition
- (1641) written by a Puritan leader to assist the General Court
- one of 1st written governing documents in New England
- liberty is basis for tranquility among churches and states
- many of limints on government power listed were included in the Magna Carta or out of British common law
- due process, free enterprise and equality
- rights to habeus corpus and rules for representation
- death penatly for murder, adultery, homosexuality, direct blasphemy, witchcraft, or woshiping other gods also provided in document
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Term
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- (1651) comeplete titel is Leviathan or the matter, frome and power of a common-wealth ecclesiasticall and civill.
- author is Thomas Hobbes - poeople naturally love liberty as well as power over others
- "warre of every man against every man"
- people trade their natural freedom which leads only to war in exchange for the peace provided by their ruler
- Hobbes assered that a powerful monarch was the source of political authority, and he did not acknowledge the right of the people to overthrow a government which failed to protect them
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Term
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- (1689) written as an act of Parliament
- part of "Glorious Revolution" - King and Queen William and Mary of Orange accepted it
- an English precursor of the Consitution
- limited the power of the English sovereign
- Catholics banned from the throne and kings and queens had to swear oaths to mainatin Protestantism as oficial religion of England
- asserted that Englishmen had certain in alienable civil and political rights
- monarchs couldn't establish their own courts or act as judges themselves
- Free Speech in Parliament was also protected
- roots of the 1st, 2nd, 4th, 5th, 6,th and 8th Ammendments
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Term
| Second Treatise of Civil Government |
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Definition
- (1689) John Locke argued that men are by nature free and have an equality of rights
- Locke asserted that lal people, regardless nationality, are born with the same rigthts
- rights are not "granted" by governemnts but from nature of God
- governments exist to protect, not grant, natural rights
- form of compact theory
- strongly influenced the Founders including Samuel Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and James Otis
- the Dec of Ind, and George Mason's Viriginia Dec. of Rights echoed the language of this document
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- (1748) Charles de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu (1689-1755), a French philosopher and juricsc, wrote this
- pointed to the English Bill of Rights as an ideal model of government
- best form of govt combine monarchy with administrative authority made of distinct and separated powers (the leg, exec, and judicial) with checks and balances
- punishments shoujld not be excessive, should be moderate and fir the crime
- citizens should respect the beliefs of others and practice religious toleration
- James Madison influenced by Montesquieu and used many of the ideas in Virigina Plan and Consitution and Bill of Rights
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Term
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Definition
- (1754) first formal proposal for a permanent union of the 13 colonies
- union of the colonies under a single central government, although each colony would preserve its local independence
- Albany Congress adopted Franklin's plan but colonial assemblies rejected it because it encroached on their powers
- British govt also rejected, fearing it would be too great a stride towards indep.
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Term
| "Give Me Libery or Give Me Death" |
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Definition
- (1775) by Patrick Henry at St. John's Church in Richmond where Virginia colonial legislature was meeting
- Henry called on the legislature to take up arms and resistance against British tyranny
- he spoke w/o notes and no transcribed speech
- he urged countrymen to fight the British
- argued repeated violation of their rights
- he concluded " I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!"
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| Commentaries on the Laws of England |
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Definition
- (1765-1769) Sir William Blackstone an English jurist, wrote thie treatise on English common law tradition into a clear system
- 4 volumes- Rights of Persons (structure of the legal system), The Rights of Things (property rights), Private Wrongs (torts of civil action), and Public Wrongs (criminal law)
- Blackstone believed that law existed to protect peoples' lives, liberty, and property
- influenced the Founders
- his influence is evident in the Cons. and Bill of Rights
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Term
| Letters form a Farmer in Pennsylvania |
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Definition
- (1767-1768) believed to be written by John Dickinson
- first appeared separately in the newspapers and then published in a single pamphlet
- the Letters urged to Eng. but also called on the colonists to use moderation and work towards reconiliation in response to British policies (ex. Stamp Act)
- argued that British economic policies towards colonies were reducing Americans to slavery
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Term
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Definition
- (1776) by Thomas Paine as a support of Patriot cause
- used clear, plain language, rallied the colonists to support the break from British
- denounced the monarchy, argued that people are born in to a state of equality
- claimed that there are no natural rulers among men
- read by as great a proportion of the population as watches the Superbowl today
- Congress apporved the Dec. of Ind. months later, Common Sense is believed to have greatly influenced the support for the cause
- Paine denoted all his earnings from sale of the pamphlet to the revol. cause
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Term
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Definition
- (1776) given to Richard Henry Lee's proposal that the colonies declare ind. from Eng.
- also called for creating foreign allianced and developing a plan for confederation and distributing in to the colonies
- treason in the eyes of the British King
- congress voted to declare in on July 2nd, 1776
- words of the Lee Res. became part of the closing lines of the dec. of ind.
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Term
| Decleration of Independence |
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Definition
- (1776) Congress debated ind. for several days
- a committee made up of John Adams, Ben Franklin, Roger Sherman, Rober R. Livingston, and Thomas Jefferson was given the job of drafting a formal dec. of ind.
- the Committee of Five gave the task of writing to Jefferson
- dec. contained 1: a general statement of natural rights theory and the purpose of govt. 2: a list of grievances against the British King, 3: the dec. of ind. from England
- more than 20 yrs. later 2, 3, 4, 6 ammendments to the cons. would contain prohibitions against the govt to prevent the same forms of tyranny as were listed as grievances
- his writings was influenced by George Mason's Viriginia dec. of rights and John Locke's Two Treatises of Govt.
- draft was edited by Franklin and Adams
- several changes were made including remoivng references condemning slavery
- adopted on July 4th
- signed by John Hancock that day, the rest 2 months later
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Term
| Virginia Decleration of Rights |
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Definition
- (1776) written by George Mason declaring that all people are born with an equality of natuarl rights and that govt. power is derived from the people
- it's still part of the state's cons.
- guarantees rights of a free press, property rights, speedy jury trials, and religious liberty
- included protections against self-incrimination, excessive fines and cruel and unusual punishments, unreasonable search and seizure
- states that it's the duty of all citizens to practice justice, moderation, temperance, frugality, and virtue
- appeared 3 weeks before the Dec. of Ind.
- drew upon John Locke's philosophy and foreshadowed the Dec. of Ind.
- James Madison used this as a model for drafting the U.S. Bill of Rights
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Term
| Articles of Confederation |
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Definition
- (1781) first governing doc. of U.S.A.
- adopted by the 2nd Continental Congress in 1771 and ratified by the states in 1781
- contain 13 articles and a conclusion
- signed by 48 people from the 13 states
- include Sam Adams, Dickinson, Elbridge Garry, Hancock, Richard Henry Lee, Gouverneur Morris, Robert Morris, Roger Sherman, and John Witherspoon
- created an association of sovereign states
- most important piece of legislation that the Confederation Congress enacted was the Northwest Ordinance
- Congress approved a plan to revise the Articles
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Term
| Annapolis Convention Proceedings |
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Definition
- (1786) more and more people were becoming aware of the art. of conf.
- major concern was that the weak central govt didn't have the power to make uniform commercial laws for the contry
- reps from Virginia and Maryland met at George Washington's Mt. Vernon to discuss navigation of the Potomac River, calling for a convention to be held in Annapolis to discuss commercial navigation
- held in sept of 17786
- 5 of 13 states sent reps
- the convention decided to call a future convention for the purpose of revising the art. of conf.
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Term
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Definition
- (1787) 55 people from 12 of 13 states (not inc. Rhode Island) met in Phil. to revise the Art. of Conf.
- soon, the goal was to write a complete new plan of govt.
- this meeting was called the Cons. Convention
- the delegates elected Washington to preside over the meeting
- Viriginia Plan was presented
- smaller states responded with the New Jersey Plan
- the plan known as the Great Compromise was acceptable to just about all of the delegates
- on sept 17, 1787 the Constitution of USA was completed and signed by 39 of the delegates, some left as conv. went on but 3 refused to sign it in protest
- once 9 states ratified it in 1789 it was the law of the land for those states
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Term
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Definition
- (1787) the most important piece of legislation enacted by Congress under the art. of conf.
- the U.S. claimed the Ohio territory after the 1783 Treaty of Paris ended the Rev. WAr
- established policies for the creation of new states and the admitting of those states into the conf.
- the law accelerated westward expansion
- the law establisehd that all states would be equal regardless of when they were established
- also addressed the equality of the rights of citizens of the new states within the rights of the states that had fought the Revolution
- some fund. rights were listed including trial by jury, habeas corpus, due process, and religious freedom
- excessive fines and cruel and unusual punishments were banned
- slavery was also banned from new territories, though fugitive slaves who escaped to a new state would be returned to their masters
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Term
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- (1787) written by James Madison, defended the form of republican govt. proposed by the Cons.
- ciritics of the Cons. argued that the proposed federal govt was too large and would be unresponsive to the people
- in respone, Madison explained the majority rule v. minority rights in this essay
- great number of fractions and diversity would avoid tyranny
- groups would be forced to negotiate and compromise among themselves
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Term
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- 1788, in this paper, Madison explaines and defends the checks and balances system in the Const.
- each branch of govt. is framed so that its power checks the power of the other 2 brances
- Madison also discusses the way republican govt. can serve as a check on the power of fractions, and the tyranny of the majority
- Madison's political theory as expressed in this Federalist Paper demonstrates the influence of Montesquieu's The Spirit of the Laws on the Founders
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Term
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Definition
- 1788, in this paper, Alexander Hamilton argued for a strong executive leader, as provided for by the Cons. as opposed to the weak exec. under the Art. of Fed.
- though some called for an executive council, Hamilton defended a single executive as "far more safe" because "wherever two or more people are engaged in any common...pursuit, there is always danger of difference of opinion...bitter disssensions are apt to spring."
- he also arugued that a singe exec. would be watched "more narrowly" and vigilantly by the poeple than a group of people would be
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Term
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Definition
- the Brutus writings were a series of 16 essays written btwn 1787 and 1790 that argued against the ratification of the US Cons.
- the Brutus essays conuntered the Fed. Papers, which argued in favor of ratifying the Const.
- some believe that New York govn. Robert Yates was the author
- he chose the pen name Brutus in honor of Roman Statesman Julius Caesar
- Brutus had several specific objections to the proposed fed. Cons.
- he believed it would infringe peoples' liberty
- he argued that a bill of rights would be needed
- he thought the Necessary and Proper Clause of Article I gave Congress too much power
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