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Jun 15, 1215
Magna Carta
King John was forced to sign this document -
Jamestown's House of Burgesses
The first democratically-elected legislative body in the British American colonies. -
Mayflower Compact
A set of rules for self-governance established by the English settlers who traveled to the New World on the Mayflower. -
Petition of Right
King Charles was required to sign this, Gov. could not unlawfully imprison people -
The Enlightenment
- Intellectual movement in 18th century Europe
- Classical liberal concerns addressed in Enlightenment
- Framers of the U.S. Constitution believed in people’s natural rights to life, liberty, and property.
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Glorious Revolution
King James II was Catholic. His religion, and his actions rooted in it, put him at odds with the non-Catholic population and others. This lead to a constitutional monarchy. -
English Bill of Rights
Guaranteed free speech and protection from cruel and unusual punishment. -
Road to independence
Sugar act and Stamp act First direct tax on paper goods and legal documents
Stamp Act Congress met to protest the tax and it was repealed -
Boston Massacre
British soldiers fired into crowd
5 colonists died -
Boston Tea Party
Revolutionaries dumped British Tea into the harbor -
The Intolerable Acts
Colonists were forced to “Quarter,” or house, British troops -
Declaration of Independence
The principles on which our government, and our identity as Americans, are based. -
Articles of Confederation
Created a loose confederation of sovereign states and a weak central government, leaving most of the power with the state governments. -
Civil Liberties/Civil Rights
Basic rights and freedoms that are guaranteed to all people
Either explicitly identified in the Constitution/Bill of Rights or inferred through the years by legislatures or the courts. Basic rights to be free from unequal treatment based on certain protected characteristics (race, gender, disability, etc.)
Generally established through the fed. gov't by federal legislation or case law. -
Constitutional Convention
At this meeting it was decided that the best solution to the young country's problems was to set aside the Articles of Confederation and write a new constitution. -
3/5 Compromise
Counted population of states with each enslaved person worth 3/5 of a person -
Constitution
The basic principles and laws of a nation, state, or social group that determine the powers and duties of the government and guarantee certain rights to the people in it. -
Supremacy Clause
Establishes that national laws are supreme to state laws. -
Federalist Papers
- Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay were authors, but Hamilton wrote most of the papers.
- The Federalist Papers defended the new Constitution
- All three authors wrote under pen name “Publius”
- Argued that constitution included a separation of powers to limit power
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Gazette
The Gazette of the United States was an early American newspaper -
Bureaucracy
- Any organization with a clear formal structure, a division of labor, and a set of rules and procedures by which it operates
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Early Supreme Court
- Court was not always as powerful as it is today
- Alexander Hamilton’s writings on the Supreme Court is the foundation for our understanding of the court's original powers
- He said the Supreme Court was the weakest of the branches
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Bill of Rights
First 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution -
Writ of Habeas Corpus
Prevents government from holding people in secret or without charges -
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Dual Federalism
- Both state and national governments were equal authorities operating within their own spheres of influence
- Strict reading
- National government only had powers listed in Constitution
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Naturalization
- Legal process by which an immigrant becomes a citizen
- Naturalized citizens cannot be president or vice-president
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Full faith and Credit clause
Contract in one state must be honored in other states (driver’s license, marriage) -
Bill of Attainder
Would punish a person without a trial -
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Chief Justice John Marshall
Began to expand the power of the Supreme Court -
Marbury v. Madison
Established the principle of judicial review in the United States -
McCulloch v. Maryland
- Maryland taxed the national bank
- Court ruled bank was necessary and proper -Maryland couldn’t tax bank b/c it could weaken the national government
- "The power to tax is the power to destroy."
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Gibbons v. Ogden
Court said only Congress has the right to regulate commerce between states -
Doctrine of nullification
States had the right to nullify (cancel) national laws that they believed contradicted state interests -
Seneca Falls Convention
- First national woman's rights convention in the US
- Called for equal rights in voting, education, and property
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Dred Scott v. Sanford
Enslaved man sued for his and his family's freedom after being taken to a free state. Court said that Scott, as an African-American and previously property, was not a citizen. Gave him no legal standing to sue.
Called the “greatest disaster” of the Supreme Court -
Election of Abraham Lincoln
First Republican president -
Morrill Act
Granted large tracts of land to states; states sold land and used money for colleges -
The 14th Amendment
Established equal protection under the law -
Privileges and immunities clause
Citizens of each state should receive all the privileges and immunities of any state where they are currently located -
Jim Crow Laws
- Segregation laws; maintained power of white citizens
- Part of the “Separate-but-Equal” doctrine established by Plessy v. Ferguson - Requiring separate facilities for racial groups was legal if they were equal
- Courts ruled that the Constitution didn’t protect people from discrimination by private individuals.
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Plessy v. Ferguson
- Ruled segregation was legal as long as the facilities were equal
- “Separate but equal” doctrine
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16th Admendment
- Gave Congress authority to set a federal income tax
- Main source of US income
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Cooperative Federalism
- States and national governments worked together to deal with the Great Depression
- Many cases about FDR's New Deal reached the Supreme Court.
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Period: to
The New Deal Era
- The court saw Roosevelt's economic legislation as an assault on property rights
- Ruled that some New Deal programs violated the Constitution
- Roosevelt served 12 years as president (1933-1945) and packed the court with nominees that supported expansion of gov't. Power
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United States v. Miller
Ruled 2nd Amendment does not protect the right to have all types of weapons -
United States v. Darby
Upheld Fair Labor Standards Act; Commerce Clause allows Congress to regulate employment conditions -
TV replaces Radio
Television replaced radio as most influential electronic media -
Health and Human Services
- Protects health of people
- FDA sets safety standards for food, food additives, and medicinal drugs
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HAHS
- Protects the health of people
- Federal provider of human services
- Helps prevent disease outbreaks
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Brown v. Board
- Ruled segregation is illegal
- "Separate is inherently unequal"
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Edwards v. South Carolina
- 187 African-American students gathered at the state capitol to protest racial injustice
- Students did not end the protest when police told them to and were arrested.
- Court said the state had no authority to disperse the students, as they were protesting legally.
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Miranda v. Arizona
- Expanded rights of people accused of crimes
- “Miranda Rights”
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Loving v. Virginia
Struck down all state laws banning interracial marriage -
Freedom of Information Act
Allows citizens access to written records kept by federal agencies -
Freedom of Association
Right to join with others, share ideas, and work toward a common purpose -
Iron Triangle
The Iron Triangle is a concept, not an institution. It is the idea that committees in the House and Senate, federal departments and agencies, and think tanks and interest groups all work together to develop and conserve their own power, and expand their political influence. -
New Federalism
-Returned some authority to state governments
Began in 1980s
- Ronald Reagan believed state governments could better provide services to the people
-Cut national grant money and relaxed national requirements -
"Contract With America"
- Reduced size of nat. govt. by eliminating federal programs and combining others
- Criticisms: - Fear it would result in inequality - Fear that states couldn’t fund social programs
- Reduced size of nat. govt. by eliminating federal programs and combining others
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Devolution
Returning power to the states -
Homeland Security
- Reorganization of agencies already in place
• Law enforcement • Border security • Transportation • Immigration • Secret Service • Coast Guard
- Reorganization of agencies already in place
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District of Columbia v. Heller
Ruled the 2nd Amendment protects an individual's right to keep and bear arms for self-defense
