AMERICAN GOVERNMENT

By antwyone12
  • Jun 15, 1215

    MAGNA CARTA

    The Magna Carta (“Great Charter”) is a document guaranteeing English political liberties that was drafted at Runnymede, a meadow by the River Thames, and signed by King John on June 15, 1215, under pressure from his rebellious barons. By declaring the sovereign to be subject to the rule of law and documenting the liberties held by “free men,” it provided the foundation for individual rights in Anglo-American jurisprudence.

  • DECLARATION OF INDEPENDANTENCE

    By issuing the Declaration of Independence, adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, the 13 American colonies severed their political connections to Great Britain. The Declaration summarized the colonists' motivations for seeking independence.

  • ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION

    The Articles of Confederation served as the first constitution, declaring that the confederacy of the former 13 colonies would be called “The United States of America.” The Articles of Confederation consisted of 13 articles that gave powers to a national government, which was led by Congress.

  • CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION

    The Constitutional Convention took place from May 14 to September 17, 1787, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The point of the event was decide how America was going to be governed. Although the Convention had been officially called to revise the existing Articles of Confederation, many delegates had much bigger plans.

  • United States Constitution

    Written in 1787, ratified in 1788, and in operation since 1789, the United States Constitution is the world’s longest surviving written charter of government. Its first three words – “We The People” – affirm that the government of the United States exists to serve its citizens. The supremacy of the people through their elected representatives is recognized in Article I, which creates a Congress consisting of a Senate and a House of Representatives.

  • judiciary act

    The Judiciary Act of 1789 was a United States federal statute enacted on September 24, 1789, during the first session of the First United States Congress. It established the federal judiciary of the United States.

  • plessy v. ferguson

    Plessy v. Ferguson was a landmark 1896 U.S. Supreme Court decision that upheld the constitutionality of racial segregation under the “separate but equal” doctrine. The case stemmed from an 1892 incident in which African American train passenger Homer Plessy refused to sit in a car for Black people.

  • Landmark legal case: Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District.

    At a public school in Des Moines, Iowa, students planned to wear black armbands at school as a silent protest against the Vietnam War. When the principal became aware of the plan, he warned the students that they would be suspended if they wore the armbands to school because the protest might cause a disruption in the learning environment. Despite the warning, some students wore the armbands and were suspended.

  • gregory v. chicago

    Comedian Dick Gregory (in light raincoat) leads marchers in Chicago in 1965 who were protesting administration of schools superintendent Benjamin Willis. The protestors were arrested after refusing to leave due to unruly spectators. The Supreme Court upheld the rights of the peaceful protestors over the police actions in Gregory v. City of Chicago (1969) (AP Photo/Paul Cannon, used with permission from the A