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1215
Magna Carta
Moved from rule of man to rule of law
Outlined individual rights which king could not violate
Included taxation and trial provisions -
Mayflower Compact
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Petition of Right
Required monarchs to obtain Parliamentary approval before new taxes
Government could not unlawfully imprison people or establish military rule during times of peace -
English Bill of Rights
Guaranteed free speech and protection from cruel and unusual punishment -
Jamestown’s House of Burgesses
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Sugar Act
British legislation aimed at ending the smuggling trade in sugar and molasses from the French and Dutch West Indies and at providing increased revenues to fund enlarged British Empire responsibilities following the French and Indian -
Stamp Act
Stamp Act Congress met to protest the tax and it was repealed -
Boston Massacre
British soldiers fired into crowd
5 colonists died -
Boston Tea Party
Revolutionaries dumped British Tea into the harbor -
Intolerable Acts
Colonists were forced to “Quarter,” or house, British troops -
Declaration of Independence
Likely drawn from Virginia Declaration of Rights and inspired by John Locke
Blamed the King for a variety of issues in the Colonies
Signed by the delegates to the Second Continental Congress on August 2, 1776. -
Articles of Confederation
Delegates aimed to have a confederation in which colonies kept their “sovereignty, freedom, and independence.”
Ratification delayed by argument over who would control western lands
Small states refused to ratify until they granted the entire confederation control over the lands -
Shay’s Rebellion
Farmers attacked courthouses to keep judges from foreclosing on farms
Stormed military arsenal -
The Constitutional Convention
Drafting a New Constitution -
Northwest Ordinance
Established a plan for settling the Northwest Territory
Included disputed lands
Created system for admitting states to the Union
Banned slavery in the territory
Guided nation’s western expansion -
Judiciary Act of 1789
Established a Three-tiered Judicial Structure
1. District courts
2. Circuit courts
3. Supreme Court -
Marbury vs Madison
Power of judicial review -
McCulloch v. Maryland
Maryland taxed the national bank
Court ruled bank was necessary and proper
Maryland couldn’t tax bank b/c it could weaken the national government
"The power to tax is the power to destroy." -
Gibbons v. Ogden
Right of a state legislature to award a monopoly to operate a steamship line between NY and NJ
Court said only Congress has the right to regulate commerce between states -
Dred Scott v Sanford
Dred Scott
Slave who sued for his and his family's freedom after being taken to a free state
Court said that Scott, as an African-American and previously property, was not a citizen
Gave him no legal standing to sue
Called the “greatest disaster” of the Supreme Court -
Morrill Act
Granted large tracts of land to states; states sold land and used money for colleges -
Wyoming Territory was the first to grant women the right to vote
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Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882
Ended Chinese immigration to the US -
Seneca Falls Convention
First national woman's rights convention in the US
Called for equal rights in voting, education, and property -
17th amendment
Direct election of Senators -
16th amendment
gave Congress authority to set a federal income tax
Main source of US income -
19th amendment gave women the right to vote
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Dual Federalism
Both state and national governments were equal authorities operating within their own spheres of influence
Strict reading
National government only had powers listed in Constitution -
United States v. Miller
Ruled 2nd Amendment does not protect the right to have all types of weapons -
Minersville School District v. Gobitis
The Supreme Court ruled that a child could be expelled for refusing to salute the American flag or recite the pledge (these actions violated the child’s religious beliefs) -
Executive Order 9066
FDR required all people of Japanese descent on the West Coast to report to "War Relocation Centers" (internment camps)
120,000 left their homes and businesses and 80,000 remained in camps until the war was over. -
West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette
The court reversed itself and decided unity was not a sufficient reason to overrule religious beliefs. -
Korematsu v. United States
Court ruled the public’s safety was more important than rights of Japanese Americans. -
Women were not guaranteed the right to serve on a jury until the Civil Rights act of 1957
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Civil Rights Act of 1960
Empowered the federal government to actively engage in voter registration in places where voting discrimination had been found -
Cooperative federalism
States and national governments worked together to deal with the Great Depression
Many cases about FDR's New Deal reached the Supreme Court. -
Edwards v. South Carolina
187 African-American students gathered at the state capitol to protest racial injustice
Students did not end the protest when police told them to and were arrested.
Court said the state had no authority to disperse the students, as they were protesting legally. -
Equal Pay Act of 1963
Established equal pay for men and women -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
Outlaws discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
Banned discrimination based on race, color, religion, gender, or national origin in voting, employment, and public accommodations
Passed under the Commerce Clause of the Constitution, so businesses had to follow the law as well -
Eliminated country-based quotas; preferred immigrants with certain job skills and relatives of US citizens
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Age Discrimination in Employment Act
Protects applicants and employees of 40+ years old from discrimination based on age in hiring, promotion, discharge, compensation, privileges, etc. of employment. -
De Jure Segregation ended in the 1970s
Segregation by order of law -
War Powers Resolution
President must consult with Congress before sending troops
Congress can force the president to end use of military with a concurrent resolution -
Equal Credit Opportunity Act of 1975
prohibited banks, stores, and other businesses from preventing women from getting loans or credit. -
Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act of 1975
allowed Native American Groups to control federally funded programs in their communities -
the average cost of a four-year college was $30,800 (adjusted for inflation)
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Great Society
Government program to eliminate poverty and social inequality
Johnson created creative federalism, which released national funds to achieve national goals.
If states didn’t cooperate, they would lose federal funding. -
New federalism
Returned some authority to state governments
Began in 1980s
Ronald Reagan believed state governments could better provide services to the people
Cut national grant money and relaxed national requirements -
Harlow v. Fitzgerald
Established the rationale for qualified immunity -
Tennessee v. Garner
Limited police use of lethal force -
Graham v. Connor
Juries must consider if the officer believed force was reasonable -
Allowed 675,000 immigrants
Up to 1.8 million immigrants in 2016
Allowed 30,000 refugees in 2019
Down from 85,000 in 2016 -
Americans with Disabilities Act
Prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities in all areas of public life, including jobs, schools, transportation, and all public and private places that are open to the general public. -
Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigration Responsibility Act of 1996
Increased border control; easier to deport undocumented aliens, increased penalties for smuggling people into the country. -
D.C. v. Heller
Ruled 2nd Amendment right to bear arms includes the right to self defense -
McDonald v. Chicago
Ruled 2nd Amendment applies to federal, state, and local governments; upheld 2nd Amendment -
2.3 million people were incarcerated in the United States
698 of every 100,000 Americans was in jail or prison.
The U.S. still has the highest level of incarceration in the world. -
Undocumented Alien
Someone living in a country without authorization from the government
Estimated undocumented population in 2017: 10.5 million -
Trump v. Hawaii
Court ruled a ban on immigration from majority-Muslim countries did not violate the Establishment Clause