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the first document to establish the principle that the monarch and their government were not above the law and had their powers legally limited -
First permanent settlement -
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he site of the first permanent European settlement in New England -
a significant document drafted and signed by the English settlers aboard the Mayflower in 1620 -
a tax on imported sugar -
a tax on imported documents and goods -
a British law that granted the financially troubled British East India Company a near monopoly on tea sales
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Called for appeal of coercive acts, boycotts of british goods -
a series of British laws designed to punish the colony of Massachusetts Bay for the Boston Tea Party -
a convention of delegates from the Thirteen Colonies that became the de facto national government of the United States during the American Revolutionary War -
the foundational document by which the thirteen American colonies officially announced their break from British rule and established themselves as a sovereign nation. -
a pivotal gathering that led directly to the Constitutional Convention where the U.S. Constitution was drafted -
The U.S. Constitution is the supreme law of the United States and the foundation of its federal government. It establishes the structure of the national government with three branches -
Proposed at the Constitutional Convention by William Paterson, it called for a unicameral legislature with equal representation for each state, favoring small states. -
Also known as the Connecticut Compromise, it created a bicameral legislature with the House of Representatives based on population and the Senate with equal representation for each state, balancing large and small state interests -
three out of every five enslaved individuals would be counted toward a state’s population. -
Clear separation of state and federal powers, often called layer-cake federalism -
the collective name for the first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution. -
Protects the right to keep and bear arms. -
Establishes rules for indictment by a grand jury and eminent domain, protects due process rights, and prohibits self-incrimination and double jeopardy. -
Provides for the right to a jury trial in certain civil cases. -
Prohibits the forced quartering of soldiers in private homes during peacetime. -
Guarantees the right to a speedy and public trial by an impartial jury, the right to an attorney, and the right to confront witnesses. -
Protects against unreasonable searches and seizures without a warrant and probable cause -
Prohibits excessive bail, excessive fines, and cruel and unusual punishments. -
States that the enumeration of specific rights in the Constitution does not deny or disparage other rights retained by the people. -
Reserves powers not delegated to the federal government to the states or to the people. -
Guarantees freedoms of religion, speech, the press, assembly, and the right to petition the government. -
Judicial review. -
Federal supremacy, implied powers. -
Abolished slavery. -
13th, 14th, 15th. amendments -
Guaranteed equal protection under the law. -
Prohibited voting discrimination based on race. -
16th (income tax), 17th (direct election of senators), 18th (Prohibition), 19th (women’s suffrage). -
Federal government influences states through grants and funding, especially after the New Deal and income tax expansion -
22nd (term limits), 26th (voting age lowered to 18), 27th (congressional pay limits). -
Ended school segregation. -
Outlawed segregation/discrimination -
Protected minority voting rights. -
Rights of the accused (Miranda rights). -
Nixon and Reagan’s push to return power to states via block grants and decentralization -
Limited presidential military authority. -
Abortion rights (later overturned in 2022). -
Limited executive privilege. -
Expanded civil rights protections. -
Resolved presidential election dispute. -
Expanded government surveillance powers post-9/11. -
Major healthcare reform.