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| Magna Carta was originally an English charter from 1215. Magna Carta is the most significant early influence on the long historical process that has led to the rule of constitutional law today. Magna Carta was originally created because of disagreements between the Pope, King John and his English barons over the rights of the King. Magna Carta required the king to renounce certain rights and respect certain legal procedures and to accept that the will of the king could be bound by law. |
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| The Bill of Rights 1689 is not a bill of rights, in the sense of a statement of certain rights that citizens and/or residents of a free and democratic society have (or ought to have), but rather addresses only the rights of Parliamentarians sitting in Parliament as against the Crown. In this respect, it differs substantially in form and intent from other "bills of rights," including the first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution, which are also known as the "Bill of Rights". This is in part due to the un-codified constitutional traditions of the UK, whereby the English Bill of Rights forms a list of rights in respect of the peoples' representatives in Parliament, in addition to those rights already provided for individuals as set out in Magna Carta. |
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| The Mayflower Compact was the first governing document of Plymouth Colony. It was drafted by the Puritan pilgrims who crossed the Atlantic aboard the Mayflower. It was signed on November 11, 1620 in what is now Provincetown Harbor near Cape Cod. Having settled at Plymouth (thus named by Captain John Smith earlier), the pilgrims recognized that their land was outside the chartered territory of the London Company. Thus, the Mayflower Compact was signed to establish a civil government based upon a majoritarian model and to proclaim the settlers' allegiance to the king. |
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| Declaration of Independence |
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| A document written by Thomas Jefferson signed July 4, 1776, declaring American Indepence from Britain. The signing of the Declaration started the American Revolution |
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| The Federalist Papers are a series of 85 articles arguing for the ratification of the United States Constitution. They were first published serially in New York City newspapers. A compilation, called The Federalist, was published in 1788. The Federalist Papers serve as a primary source for interpretation of the Constitution, as they outline the philosophy and motivation of the proposed system of government. The authors of the Federalist Papers were not above using the opportunity to provide their own "spin" on certain provisions of the constitution to (i) influence the vote on ratification and (ii) influence future interpretations of the provisions in question. |
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