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Period: Jan 1, 1000 to
Commen Law
Common law, also known as case law, is law developed by judges through decisions of courts and similar tribunals rather than through legislative statutes or executive branch action. A "common law system" is a legal system that gives great precedential weight to common law on the principle that it is unfair to treat similar facts differently on different occasions. Common law binds future decisions. The importance of the common law is that it's looked upon as being "right". -
Jan 1, 1215
Magna Carta Signed
The Magna Carta is an English legal document written in 1215 CE. Because England's legal system was used as a model by many former colonies when they developed their own legal systems, the Magna Carta also had an impact on many other governments. It could be considered a bill of rights for medieval England and it states the King was not above the law. -
Jan 1, 1265
Parliament Established
The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England. The English Parliament traces its origins to the Anglo-Saxon Witenagemot. In 1066, William of Normandy introduced a feudal system, by which he sought the advice of a council of tenants-in-chief and ecclesiastics before making laws. -
Period: Jan 1, 1500 to
Iroquois Confederation
In the 17th century all five Indian trides formed a union. A union is also called a confederacy. Their government was called The Great Peace Law. The Tuscarora people later joined the Graet Peace Law, so then there were five tribes in the confederacy. the onondaga, mohawk, oneida, seneca, and cayuga. -
Period: Jan 1, 1500 to
Separation of Powers
The separation of powers, is a model for the governance of both democratic and federative state. The three branches created in the Constitution : the Legislature, Executive, and Judicial, each have distinct functions and fine lines separating them. It is important that the lines between these branches not be blurred or crossed in order for American democracy to continue functioning effectively. -
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Colonial Legislatures
By creating legislatures in the colonies, Americans were simply copying the governmental structure they lived under in England. The colonial legislatures were modeled on the English Parliament. -
Mayflower Compact Signed
The first democratic document was written in America, declaring the pilgrims to be their own democratic commonwealth. This document was written by William Bradford. A simple agreement to form a crucial government and to submit to the will of the majority under the regulations was agreed upon by the inhabitants of the new world. It was signed by 41 adult males, 11 of them with the exalted rank of "mister", promising to step toward a genuine government. -
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New England Confederation Approved
A book written by Thomas Hobbes which was published in 1651. It is titled after the biblical Leviathan. The book concerns the structure of society and legitimate government, and is regarded as one of the earliest and most influential examples of social contract theory. -
Thomas Hobbes- Leviathan
His 1651 book Leviathan established the foundation for most of Western political philosophy from the perspective of social contract theory. -
English Bill of Rights Established
The Bill of Rights was passed by Parliament in December 1689.It was a re-statement in statutory form of the Declaration of Right presented by the Convention Parliament to William and Mary in March 1689, inviting them to become joint sovereigns of England. This showed that the king had to follow rules which ultimately started to put power in the people. -
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John Locke- Two Treaties of Government
A work of political philosophy published in 1689 by John Locke. The First Treaty attacks patriarchalism in the form of sentence-by-sentence refutation of Robert Filmer's Patriarcha and the Second Treaty outlines a theory of political or civil society based on natural rights and contract theory. The idea that men are endowed with natural rights. -
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Enlightenment
Era in Western philosophy and intellectual, scientific, and cultural life, centered upon the 18th century, in which reason was advocated as the primary source for legitimacy and authority. -
Baron of Mostesque- On The Spirit of Laws
A treatise on political theory. Nearly twenty years researching and writing, covering a wide range of topics in politics, the law, sociology, and anthropology. This advocates constitutionalism and the separation of powers, the abolition of slavery, the preservation of civil liberties and the rule of law, and the idea that political and legal institutions ought to reflect the community. -
Adopted Albany Plan of Union
The Albany Plan of Union of 1754 came closest to achieving union, at least of seven of the colonies. Even though this plan was adopted by the Albany Congress when it was sent for ratification to England and to the individual colonies the plan was turned down. -
Jean Jacque Rousseau- The Social Contract
Propounds a doctrine which already had a long history in the struggle against the older view of the divine right of kings, namely, that government gets its authority over us by a willing consent on our part, not by the authorization of God. While Rousseau's famous opening line condemns the society of his day for its limiting of our natural spontaneity,he thinks that a good government can be justified in terms of the compromise. -
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Sir John Blackstone- Commentaries on the Laws of England
are an influential 18th-century treatise on the common law of England by Sir William Blackstone.The Commentaries were long regarded as the leading work on the development of English law and played a role in the development of the American legal system. -
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First Continental Congress Meets
A convention of delegates from twelve of the thirteen North American colonies that met on September 5, 1774, at Carpenters' Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, early in the American Revolution. Called in response to the passage of the Coercive Acts by the British Parliament, the Congress was attended by 56 members appointed by the legislatures of twelve of the Thirteen Colonies, the exception being the Province of Georgia. -
Second Continental Congress Meets
A convention of delegates from the Thirteen Colonies that met beginning on May 10, 1775, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, soon after warfare in the American Revolutionary War had begun. The second Congress managed the colonial war effort, and moved incrementally towards independence, adopting the United States Declaration of Independence on July 4th, 1776. By raising armies, directing strategy, appointing diplomats, and making formal treaties. -
Declaration Of Independence Signed
The United States Declaration of Independence is a statement adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, which announced that the thirteen American colonies then at war with Great Britain were now independent states, and thus no longer a part of the British Empire. This gave us independence. -
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Articles of Confederation
The first constitution of the United States of America and specified how the national government was to operate. The Second Continental Congress appointed a committee to draft the Articles in June 1776 and sent the draft to the states for ratification in November 1777. Under the Articles, the states retained sovereignty over all governmental functions not specifically relinquished to the national government. -
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Ratification of The Constitution
On September 17, 1787, the Constitution was completed, followed by a speech given by Benjamin Franklin, who urged unanimity, although the Convention decided that only nine states were needed to ratify. The Convention submitted the Constitution to the Congress of the Confederation, where it received approval according to Article 13 of the Articles of Confederation.
Once the Congress of the Confederation received word of New Hampshire's ratification, it set a timetable for the start of operati -
Constitutional Convention Meets
The United States Constitutional Convention took place from May 25 to September 17, 1787, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to address problems in governing the United States of America, which had been operating under the Articles of Confederation following independence from Great Britain. The stated goal of the Convention was the revision of the Articles of Confederation, and attention given to more sweeping changes. The Jersey Plan & Virgina Plan were discussed also. -
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Bill of Rights
Introduced by James Madison to the First United States Congress in 1789 as a series of legislative articles, and came into effect as Constitutional Amendments on December 15, 1791, when they had been ratified by three-fourths of the States.The Bill of Rights is a series of limitations on the power of the United States Federal government, protecting the natural rights of personal and intellectual liberty & property.
