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Nov 6, 1000
Ancient Greece
5th century BC
They fom of government theyy used was direct democracy, the citizens would vote. It generaly only worked on a small scale but it gave a voice to the people even if they were poor. -
Nov 6, 1000
Ancient Rome
509 BC-49BC
Ancient Rome was a form of government where the citizens elected people to represent them. This was the begininng of todays representative government. They wrote down their laws so people would follow them. -
Jun 15, 1215
Magna carta
The Magna Cart 'Great charter' was a document that was created to limit the power of the king. This document also protected the rights of the citizens. -
Mayflower compact
The mayflower compact was a document stating that the colonists would form a social contract government. The writers claimed that nobody had the power to order them and they had their own liberty. -
Thomas Hobbes
Thomas Hobbes first introduced the idea of social contract theory,which ment he belived that government should be an agreement between the people and their government. He also belived that the government was needed to protect the people from themselves. In addition to the social contract he thought the people needed an absolute monarch, a very strict controlling government. -
John Locke
John Locke belived in representative government was the only possible government. He thought that government exsisted to serve the people and that the people should not serve the government. Also if the government failed the people had a right to overthrow the government. -
English bill of rights
The English Bill of Rights protected the rights of the citizens by expanding their rights such as the right to bare arms, petitioning the king and not being able to be punished in a cruel and unusual way. It also beinifited the citizens by limiting the power of the monarches. -
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Rousseau believed the only good government was freely formed by the people. He also believed that all men are created equally, and he ment all men not just landowners. He created what we call today, the social contract. -
Baron de Montesquieu
Baron De Montesquieu was the first to propose seperation of powers. The system he created would sperate government in Judicial, Executive, and Legislature which can equally divide power. -
Voltaire
Volitare deeply belived in freedom of speech. He also belived that all men were created equally and should be treated by the morals they follow. -
Cesare Beccaria
Cesare Beccaria had created many influnetial ideas, one of them being his thoughts on crime and puishment. He disapproved of the ideas of torture and death penalty, this influnced many of todays methods of punishment. -
First continental congress
The first continental congress was a meeting of twelve out of the thirteen states to discuss America's freedom. They discussed for two months, during this time they wrote and sent a protest to the king stating they would not trade with Great Britain until the taxes put on America were removed. -
Second continental congress
The second continental congress was a meeting of representatives from all thirteen colonies. They met to discuss how to make America its own country not ruled by the king. This was the meeting that led to America declaring its own freedom. -
declaration of Independence
July 4th was the day the declaration was adopted, it declared our freedom from Great Britain. This meant that America was now its own soverign nation. It is significant because it marker the start of America finally becoming the country it is today. -
Articles of Confederation
The Articles of Confederation was America's first major form of government, each state had it's own power which caused many problems. The government had very limited power because all the power was in the states so if a army was needed each state would have to agree to it, most of the time they did not. -
Treaty of Paris
The Treaty of Paris marked the end of the Revolutionary war. This document finally agreed that America was it's own soverign country. -
Shay's Rebellion
Shay's Rebellion was a violent riot in Massachusetts. Taxes on land were very in order to pay off debt from the war, the farmers didn't like it so they rebelled. The rebellion made America realize they needed a stronger form of government, that's what is significant about this event. -
Philadelphia Convention
The constitutional convention also known as the Philadelphia convention met to revise the articles of confederation. Instead of fixing the articles of confederation they decided to create a new government, they created what we use today, the constitution.
