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1215
Magna Carta
This started limited government which limited the power of the king and made it clear that even the King wasn't above the law -
Mayflower Compact
This was the first agreement of self-government to be created and enforced in America. Was also the first governing document of Plymouth Colony, it was written by the male passengers of the Mayflower. -
English Petition of Right
This forced the King to make concessions of reform. Protection of individual rights was also an effect. It is a major English constitutional document that sets out specific liberties of the subject that the King is prohibited from infringing. -
The English Bill of Rights
Is an Act of the Parliament of England that deals with constitutional matters and sets out certain basic civil rights. Declared the rights and liberties of the people. -
John Locke's 2nd Treatise of Government
He discusses men's move from a state of nature characterized by perfect freedom and governed by reason to a civil government in which the authority is vested in a legislative and executive power. -
William Blackstone's Commentaries
Stands as the first great effort to reduce the English common law to a unified and rational system. Blackstone demonstrated that the English law as a system of justice was comparable to Roman law and the civil law or the Continent. -
Declaration of Independence
It established basic ideas of government. It protected peoples rights. It said that if the government was not working then the people can alter or abolish it. -
Articles of Confederation
It was an agreement among the 13 original states of the U.S. that served as its first constitution. Served as the written document that established the functions of the national government of the U.S. after it declared independence from Great Britain.
