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The first area to influence our American democracy was the people of Ancient Greece. In Athens, their government required participation of the people. They also established an "Assembly" which were a body of citizens that made decisions and voted on issues that affected everyone.
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The beginnings of a representative government was seen in the Roman Empire. Rome was originally ruled by Kings but in it's height it eventually changed into a form of democracy in 150 CE.
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In 689 CE, a man by the name of John Locke published a book about the natural rights held by every human being. His ideas helped to form the way we think about individual rights today.
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Around 1100 CE a group of Native Americans formed an alliance to work together towards a common goal of checks and balances. This was a part of the Founding Fathers federal system
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For a very long time laws had been applied but not to kings or governments. So in 1215, the English wrote the Magna Carta and added a very important section that the kind had to follow the "law of the land".
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The Petition of Rights is one of England's most famous constitutional documents. The Parliament wrote it as an objection to an over reach of King Charles I authority. This was a major push on their Civil Rights.
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In 1748, a French thinker named Montesquieu wrote a power that must be divided in government to prevent one part from becoming too powerful. Thus, becoming part of our checks and balances today.
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In the year of 1776 a man named Thomas Paine created a book called "common sense". It was the first pamphlet to ever talk about American Independence. Thus, influencing our democracy today.
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In order to protect all individuals they created a Bill of Rights and attached it to the end of the Constitution.