-
Eminent Domain
The power to take private property for public use by a state, municipality, or private person or corporation authorized to exercise functions of public character, following the payment of just compensation to the owner of that property.
Federal, state, and local governments may take private property through their power of eminent domain or may regulate it by exercising their Police Power. The Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution requires the government to provide just compensation to the own -
Period: to
Government
-
John Trumbull Sr.
Trumbull was born in 1710 in Watertown, Connecticut, and studied for the ministry at Harvard College, gaining his B.A. in 1727. After studying with Reverend Solomon Williams in Lebanon, he collected his M.A. and a license to preach at Colchester, Connecticut, in 1730. Despite these qualifications, he joined his father as a merchant in 1731, becoming more deeply involved in the family business after his brother was lost at sea in 1732. Soon after, he developed an interest in politics, becoming a -
John Witherspoon
John Witherspoon was born in Scotland and emigrated to the American colonies to become the president of the College of New Jersey (later called Princeton University). He became a vocal advocate for colonial independence and served New Jersey in the Continental Congress. Becoming the only member of the clergy to sign the Declaration of Independence, Witherspoon always fought to ensure religious freedoms in the new country. He was also an influential educator, with many of his students going on to -
John Hancock
Born on January 23, 1737, in Braintree (present day city of Quincy) Massachusetts, John Hancock inherited a thriving trading business in Boston and would, with Samuel Adams, become a major figure in colonial agitation against British rule. He was the first to sign the Declaration of Independence and would later be elected the first governor of Massachusetts. He also faced accusations of financial mismanagement. -
Charles Carroll
Born into a wealthy family, Charles Carroll became a member of the Continental Congress as the American Revolution loomed. Carroll missed the vote on independence but signed the final draft of the Declaration on Independence, becoming the only Catholic to do so. He was a member of the Maryland state Senate and the U.S. Senate (concurrently), finally retiring to private life in 1800. Before his death in 1832, he was the last surviving signer of the Declaration of Independence. -
John Jay
John Jay was born in New York City on December 12, 1745. Initially wary of the disruption that independence would bring, he soon devoted himself to the American Revolution. Jay served in the Continental Congress, was a diplomat, wrote some of The Federalist Papers and became the first chief justice of the United States. He died in Bedford, New York, on May 17, 1829, at the age of 83. -
Benjamin Rush
Benjamin Rush was born on January 4, 1746, just outside of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Rush studied at Princeton University and then went on for a medical degree at Edinburgh University. He subsequently returned to Philadelphia to begin his medical practice and pursue publishing. A member of the Continental Congress and signer of the Declaration of Independence, Rush also founded Dickinson College, in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. He died on April 19, 1813. -
John Peter Mulhenberg
American clergyman, who distinguished himself as a general in the American Revolution. Born in Trappe, Pa., he was the son of the German-born minister Henry Muhlenberg (1711-87), who in 1748 organized the first Lutheran synod in America. In his youth Muhlenberg was apprenticed to a merchant in Halle, Germany, but ran away to join the British infantry in America. Discharged in 1767, he studied for the Lutheran ministry, served as a pastor in New Jersey and Virginia, and became a preacher of note. -
Declaration of Independence
Drafted by Thomas Jefferson between June 11 and June 28, 1776, the Declaration of Independence is at once the nation's most cherished symbol of liberty and Jefferson's most enduring monument.Jefferson expressed the convictions in the minds and hearts of the American people. The political philosophy of the Declaration was not new; its ideals of individual liberty had already been expressed by John Locke and the Continental philosophers. -
The Constitution
The Federal Convention convened in the State House (Independence Hall) in Philadelphia on May 14, 1787, to revise the Articles of Confederation. Because the delegations from only two states were at first present, the members adjourned from day to day until a quorum of seven states was obtained on May 25. Through discussion and debate it became clear by mid-June that, rather than amend the existing Articles, the Convention would draft an entirely new frame of government. All through the summer, i -
Bill of Rights
On September 25, 1789, the First Congress of the United States therefore proposed to the state legislatures 12 amendments to the Constitution that met arguments most frequently advanced against it. The first two proposed amendments, which concerned the number of constituents for each Representative and the compensation of Congressmen, were not ratified. Articles 3 to 12, however, ratified by three-fourths of the state legislatures, constitute the first 10 amendments of the Constitution, known as -
Fifth Amendment
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due proce -
" E Pluribus Unum"
E Pluribus Unum is Latin for "out of many, one." Sometimes it is translated more loosely as "one from many." E Pluribus Unum refers to the fact that the United States was formed as a cohesive single nation as the result of the thirteen smaller colonies joining together. The motto E Pluribus Unum was first proposed by the U.S. Continental Congress in 1782, for use on the Great Seal of the United States. The immediate inspiration for the use of this term is generally believed to be Gentlemen's Ma
