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Period: 500 BCE to 386 BCE
Ancient Greece
The United States government has deep-rooted connections to ancient Greece and Rome. From the principles of democracy, separation of powers, and the rule of law to the design of important buildings and symbols, these ancient civilizations have left a lasting impact on how we govern ourselves. -
Period: 27 BCE to 476
Ancient Roman Empire
Rome inspired many features of our own Constitution, including its checks and balances, bicameral legislature, term limits and age requirements. In some cases, the Founders copied terms straight out of the Roman constitution: words like senate, capitol and committee. -
1215
Magna Carta
A government should be constitutional, that the law of the land should apply to everyone, and that certain rights and liberties were so fundamental that their violation was an abuse of governmental -
Petition of Right
Pushing for commoners' voice to be heard in the government. This petition stated that there should not be martial law in peacetime, no taxation without the parliament's knowledge, and no imprisonment without reason -
English Bill of Rights
Many of the amendments reflected the influence of the English Bill of Rights (for example, forbidding cruel and unusual punishment). Other rights expanded on the English Bill of Rights (for example, freedom of speech was given to all citizens, not just to members of the government -
John Locke
Locke pioneered the ideas of natural law, social contract, religious toleration, and the right to revolution -
Period: to
Montesquieu
Montesquieu's discussion of separation of powers and checks and balances profoundly influenced the American Founders and the design of the U.S. Constitution. -
Iroquois
While this influence is rarely acknowledged, in 1988, one year after the U.S. Constitution's bicentennial, the U.S. Senate passed a resolution recognizing that our republic "was influenced by the Iroquois Confederacy" and that "many of the democratic principles were incorporated into the constitution itself." -
Thomas Paine
In January 1776, Thomas Paine published a document that sparked the American fight for independence from England. His political pamphlet, called Common Sense, showed the colonists that they could be free from the tyranny of a king by creating an independent nation where they could justly and fairly govern themselves.