Chapter 3 Flashcards
non-codified form of law based on long-accepted customs and traditions
common law
a trial in which a man is judged guilty or not guilty by a group of his peers
trial by jury
a body of England’s representative government
Parliament
signed by King John on June 15, 1215; marked the first time in English history that the king was under the law of the land
Magna Carta
signed in 1689; strictly limited the monarch’s power
English Bill of Rights
the document in which the Pilgrims made a covenant under God to establish a “civil body politick”
Mayflower Compact
documents issued by the Crown which established the relationship between the king and his subjects in the colonies
charters
attempts to conform the civil law to Biblical law
Massachusetts Body of Liberties, the New Haven Colony Laws
a law above the law; universal principles of right and justice
higher law
consisting of one house
unicameral
consisting of two houses
bicameral
gathering where local citizens assembled periodically to become the chief lawmaking body for their town
town meeting
local unit of government in souther colonies
county
the spiritual revival which swept the American colonies between 1730 and 1760
Great Awakening
the idea that the church and the government should be separate institutions
separation of church and state
Benjamin Franklin’s plan for uniting the colonies
Albany Plan
issued in October 1765 by the Stamp Act Congress, protesting the stamp act and other British regulations
Declaration of Rights and Grievances
a series of laws passed in 1774 to punish the colonists of Boston for resistance to British regulations
“Intolerable Acts”
enacted December 1775; cut of all trade between the colonies and England and officially removed the colonies from the “King’s Protection”
Prohibitory Act
unanimously adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776; declared the American colonies independent from England
Declaration of Independence
the two houses of British Parliament; became the model for the colonial legislatures in America and for the U.S. Congress
House of Lords, House of Commons
the first representative assembly in then colonies
House of Burgesses
met to discuss the Parliament’s requirement to purchase and affix stamps on documents; concluded that they were under the authority of only the king, not under Parliament because they were not represented in it
Stamp Act Congress
pledged the loyalty of the colonists to the Crown but protested Parliamentary interference with American Rights
First Continental Congress
