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In 1215, nobles rebelled against King John, who had treated them harshly. They forced the King to sign an agreement called the Magna Carta (Latin for "Great Charter"). This document protected the nobles' privileges and authority.
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In 1620, a group of colonists from England, known as the Pilgrims, arrived in America. The Plymouth colonists realized they needed rules to govern themselves if they were to survive in a new land. They drew up a written plan for government. Forty-one of the men aboard signed the Mayflower Compact.
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In 1639, a number of Pilgrims were being persecuted for their religious beliefs. They left Massachusetts and colonized the area that is now Connecticut. There, they developed America's first written constituion-the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut.
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In 1688, Parliament removed King James ll from the throne and invited his daughter Mary and her husband William to rule.
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Parliament drew up the English Bill of Rights in 1689. This document further restricted the monarch's power. It also guaranteed free elections to Parliament, the right to a fair trial, and the elimination of cruel and unusual punishments.
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He argued that people were born free, equal, and independent. They also possessed rights, called natural rights, to life, liberty, and property that no government could take away.
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He developed the idea about dividing the branches of government into different parts to balance each other so that no one part can become too strong or threaten individual rights.
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He wrote in the Social contract that "man is born free, yet everywhere he is found in chains." He argued that people alone had the right to determine how they should be governed.
