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King Alfred decided to have the laws of England codified. He used the Mosaic Law as the base and built off of it. As time went on, the Common Law expanded, including the modern laws necessary.
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Pope Gregory starts the reformation of the Catholic Church to be free from the Government
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The Magna Carta is drafted to protect the Church's rights
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Martin Luthor put up 95 theses on the Church door, and started the creator-redeemer distinction mindset, starting the Protestant Reformation
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King Henry started the Church of England, ridding the Catholic Church in England, and opening the door for the Reformation
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John Calvin starts the 2nd major Protestant Reformation after Martin Luthor. He also publishes a set called the "Institutes of the Christian Religion," which heavily influenced many Founding Fathers
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Mary I became the queen after her brother, Edward VI died, was against the Reformation. she was nicknamed Bloody Mary after she killed many people in England.
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After Henry VII died, Edward VI took the throne, and had many Protestant advisors, and was friendly to the Reformation.
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John Ponet was a supporter of Calvin's view, and wrote a document called "A Shorte Treatise of Politike Power." It give reasons to resisting the King as Christians.
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Sir Edward Coke was one of the key scholars to expanding the Common Law. He write the "Institutes of the Laws of England," which became the lead textbook in the colonies for learning the principle of law and rights.
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Christopher Goodman followed up Ponet's document with his own book, called "How Superior Powers Ought To Be Obeyed," which defends the right of activists.
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Elizabeth I was crowned Queen, and was the last Tudor to have the crown.
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John Knox was Calvin's disciple, but left to start a church in Scotland where he taught the principles to rebel, overthrow, and execute and an unjust monarch.
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Theodore Beza was Calvin's successor, and he wrote a volume called "Right of Magistrates," which justified an armed rebellion against unjust tyrants.
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The Vindiciae Contra Tyrannos was a volume that justified rebellion against evil monarchs. There is a promise between the crown and the people, and if the crown breaks it, the people are unrestrained from obedience.
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The first colony in the new land was the colony of Roanoke. But when ships came back to America, the entire colony has disappeared without a trace.
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The Tudor Family no longer ruled England, after Elizabeth I did not leave an heir.
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King James I was a member of the Stuart Family. He believed in the theory of the divine right of kings, and he brought it back into England. The Stuart Family believed that the king was God's chosen one, and so what the king does is God's will.
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Jamestown, Virginia, was the first permanent English Settlement.
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Charles I brought back Catholic practices. He even married a French Catholic bride, and also hated Puritans, and tortured them.
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The Pilgrims came to America to worship Protestantism freely, and they signed The Mayflower Compact, which was a covenant which acknowledged mutual submission between the Pilgrims.
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Algernon Sydney was an influential writer, who supported the Puritans. His volume "Discourse Concerning Government" reiterated Samuel Rutherford's "Lex Rex.' Sydney was an extremely influential person who shaped the Founding Fathers' views.
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John Locke was a Founding Father who was a sincere Christian, who believed that the Bible was completely true.
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Harvard was founded by a Puritan by the name of John Harvard, and he started the college to educate more scholars for America. Harvard was mainly a theological college, considering it to be the queen of politics.
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The founding of Connecticut began when the colony of Massachusetts began to not honor the covenants. Thomas Hooker and some of his friends decided to start a new colony, where they created new laws that were just.
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The English Civil War started when Charles I began forcing Catholicism onto the English Kingdom, including Scotland. Scotland was a Christian country, so they formed a National Covenant. Charles I decided to reconvene Parliament, the first time in 12 years. They would not allow Charles to dismiss them, which is why the King's choice to reconvene ended with his reign ending.
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John Maxwell was a English writer, and was paid by King Charles I to write a book stating that the king should rule with divine right, with no boundaries.
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Samuel Rutherford was a Scottish Presbyterian and was the author of Lex Rex. In response to John Maxwell's Divine Right, many Puritans and Presbyterians started writing volumes in return, with Lex Rex being the most influential.
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The Westminster Confession was a statement at the Westminster Assembly made by the Puritans and Presbyterians. This statement spoke of the relationship between church and government, and states the Protestant resistance theories, becoming an extremely influential speech.
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King Charles I defeated in the English Civil War, and was put on trial for treason, and at his trial, he was found guilty, and prosecuted.
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John Wise was known as the "missing link" between Plymouth Rock and Independence Hall's similarities in their thinking.
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The Institute of Government was a body of law written by Oliver Cromwell. It stated that people were free to have any religious beliefs, as long as these beliefs did not require them to overthrow the Government.
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Oliver Cromwell was a key fighter in the English Civil War who came to America from to England with his Puritan friends to settle, but decided to fight in the war.
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Charles II was crowned the new king after Oliver Cromwell. He proved his loyalty by swearing to stand with Protestantism. The Restoration was changing the country by promoting God and Protestantism.
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When Charles II died, his brother James II took the throne. He was a devout Catholic, and brought back the king's divine right. He took away the protection the Protestants had, and disregarded America as colonies.
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James Ii was a tyrant, sop Parliament decided to bring him down. What followed was the Glorious Revolution, also know as the Bloodless Revolution. They force him down from the throne without violence, and they offered to this daughter, Mary, who was was married to a Calvinist prince named William form the Netherlands.
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The New England Primer was a extremely popular schoolbook that taught million in America how to read and the fundamentals of Christianity.
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In 1692, the people were very anxious as people were questioning their Christian beliefs. During this time, a woman was accused of witchcraft, which started a chain of accusations and led to panic. This was seen years later by a tragic incident.
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The College of William and Mary was founded on the same basis as Harvard, in fear of a lack of educated people. It was also founded to spread Christianity, and the WMC surpassed the other 3 colleges ion teaching their students legal matters.
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Yale was founded as a alternative to Harvard, as they some minister were not satisfied with the Harvard's rigid Puritanism. Yale has also been recognized for producing many military officers during the American Revolution, including Nathan Hale.
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Samuel Adams was a key part of the revolution, starting the wave of independence. He was a member of the Sons of Liberty, a group of agitators who challenged the king. He also organized the Boston Tea Party, and the Continental Congress which brought all the colonies together.
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William Blackstone was a law teacher at oxford, and became the greatest expert on the English Common Law. He published 4 volumes called "The Commentaries," which quickly became very popular. The founders would also quote him many many times, using him as an authority on law, rights, and liberties.
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During this period of time, people began to have a religious revival, and start believing in God fully again. it was started by John Wesley and George Whitefield, when they went to America to evangelize, with Whitefield preaching to the likes of Benjamin Franklin.
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Thomas Jefferson was one of the men who wrote the Declaration of Independence. He was tasked with why they should be free, which he used his mastery of principles and the Common Law. He had attended the College of William and Mary, and had been a disciple of Coke.
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When the Great Awakening occurred, more ministers were required, so the Collège of New Jersey was founded. Princeton was also a theological institution, training people like Aaron Burr Sr. Princeton was the best at advancing Christianity, even spreading the Gospel outside of America.
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On 1750, Mayhew delivered a sermon against England sending an Anglican bishop to America, as that would give him full control of the churches there. It agreed with the Puritan Revolution and the execution of Charles I, encouraging resistance against England.
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Between 1765 and 1776, the tension between America and England grew steadily,
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The Boston Massacre was a incident where British soldiers killed 5 Americans in a brawl. It started when some boys started throwing snowballs at the soldiers, and the soldiers retaliated, a brawl following and killing multiple.
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After America declared independence, the king removed their protection, which protected their rights in England.
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The Boston Tea Party was a act of revolution against the Stamp Act, where they dumped tea into the ocean to revolt against the unfair taxes.
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Thomas Jefferson wrote volume called "Summary View of the Rights of British America," which stated that Society needs law and right, and the two are inseparable.
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The King of England declared that America was "engaged in open and avowed rebellion", and he removed the protection given to them by the English Government.
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Patrick Henry was a fiery public speaker, and he was a fundamental part of the revolution, encouraging and stirring people up to fight against the king with his speech.
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On 1776, all the colonies took a vote of to be independent, and there was an unanimous yes from all the colonies.
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The founders decided to make America a federal country, which means that all the colonies had a bond, which also meant that Calvinist principles were being used in the new nation.
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The leaders of the new nation came together to write the Constitution of America, which stated the principles that the United States would be based on.
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The Bill of Rights was a document written by James Madison, John Jay, and Alexander Hamilton. It protected the colonies from unjust federal powers.