founding documents Flashcards
(16 cards)
No one is above the law
Earliest document to place limits on King(what document)
Magna Carta
1215
Earliest social contract
First attempt at forming a government(what document8
Mayflower
Compact
1620
Rights for individuals
Right to petition king(document
English Bill of
Rights
1689
Social Contract influenced founders
Natural Rights, Right to Rebel.(document
Locke’s Two
Treatises of
Government
1689
One of many taxes imposed by British to collect for war debt.
“no taxation without representation!”
Stamp Act
1765
Influential in convincing colonists to declare independence -
Most effective piece of propaganda for the colonial cause
Written by Thomas Paine
Common Sense
1776
statement of independence from Great Britain.
Written by Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman
and Robert Livingston
Heavily Influenced by Locke; “Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness
Declaration of
Independence
1776
Loose agreement among states with most of the power
remaining with the states
Had many weaknesses causing founders to call for the
Constitutional Convention
Articles of
Confederation
1777-1788
Second attempt at government (current governing document)
Established a Federal system where central and state
governments share power
U.S.
Constitution
1787
essays written to argue for the ratification of the Constitution
Written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay
under the name “Publius”
Federalist
Papers -
1787
First ten amendments of the Constitution - protect basic
individual rights from gov interreference
Anti-Federalists argued for their inclusion
Bill of Rights
1791
Attributed to Benjamin
Franklin
* Published originally in 1754
to encourage unity among
the colonies to join the
British in the French and
Indian War
* Later became a symbol of
unity to rally the colonies to
band together and fight
against the British in the
Revolutionary War
“Join, or Die”
Ended WWI;
Example of checks and balances
Senate did not ratify the treaty, which meant the U.S. would not be part of the League of
Nations that President Wilson had helped negotiate
Treaty of
Versailles
1919
Banned discrimination in public accommodations, education,
and employment
Signed by Lyndon B. Johnson
The Civil
Rights Act
1964
Banned discrimination in voting (i.e. literacy or understanding
tests)
Resulted in a massive increase in Black voter registration in the
South.
The Voting
Rights Act
1965
Bans discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex
familial status, national origin and disability in housing
Fair
Housing Act
1968