Principles
Includes justice, human dignity and moral responsibilities
Judeo-Christian Traditions
Believed that people were naturally selfish, greedy, and prone to violence.
Thomas Hobbes
Limited the King's power and established that the law applies to everyone
Magna Carta (1215)
States the purpose and goals of the government
Preamble
An agreement between the people and the government
Social Contract
System of government where citizens elect representatives to make decisions and protect the public good.
Republicanism
Believed in natural rights: "Life, Liberty, and Property"
John Locke
Limited the monarch's power and protected certain rights of Parliament and citizens.
English Bill of Rights (1689)
Seven main sections of the U.S. Constitution explain the structure and power of the government
Articles
Government power is limited by laws and a constitution
Limited government
An intellectual movement that emphasized reason, science, individual rights, and freedom of thought rather than relying mainly on tradition and authority
European Enlightenment
Wrote about the separation of powers and the idea of checks and balances
Baron Montesquieu
Pamphlet that argued for American independence from Britain
Common Sense
The first 10 Amendments to the U.S. Constitution, which protect basic rights between people and the government
Bill of Rights
Basic rights that all people are born with
Natural Rights
Ancient Greece and Rome were both examples of...
Republicanism
Believed in popular sovereignty and the idea of a social contract
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Declared the American colonies independent from Great Britain and explained their reason for separating.
Declaration of Independence (1776)
Article VII discussed what?
Ratification
A system where each branch of government limits the power of the other branches
Checks and Balances
Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, Montesquieu, Jean Jacque Rousseau, and William Blackstone were all alive during the...
European Enlightenment
Believed in a system of common law.
William Blackstone
First U.S. Constitution, which created a weak national govt with limited power
Articles of Confederation (1781-1787)
How many states needed to ratify the Constitution in order to make it law?
9
The idea that the government gets its power from the other branch
Popular Sovereignty