Constitutional Foundations

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What is the Magna Carta?

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A document from 1215 that placed limits on the English Monarchy and is foundational for individual liberties.

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What does the Writ of habeas corpus allow?

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It allows a person who has been detained the chance to challenge that detention in court.

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Who forced King John of England to agree to the Magna Carta?

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English Noblemen in 1215.

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What did the Magna Carta signify for government power?

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It placed limits on government, meaning government was under the rule of law, not absolute power.

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How did the colonists view the rights in the Magna Carta?

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They believed they were entitled to the same rights as Englishmen and embedded those rights into their state laws and later into the Constitution and Bill of Rights.

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Who is John Locke and what is his theory?

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John Locke was a philosopher who proposed the social contract theory of government, stating that governments exist only with the consent of the governed and must protect natural rights to life, liberty, and property.

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What are some political principles that shaped the American way of life?

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Individual Rights, Rule of Law, Self-government, Limited Government, Right to Vote, Participation in Government, Separation of Powers.

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What was the Virginia House of Burgesses?

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An assembly of elected representatives from Virginia that met from 1643 to 1776, and was the first democratically elected legislative body in English North America.

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What is the Mayflower Compact?

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A 1620 agreement where colonists consented to be governed by a government they created, stating loyalty to the king and establishing self-government and majority rule.

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What did the Maryland Toleration Act ensure?

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It ensured religious freedoms to Christian settlers of different denominations in Maryland and was the first law to protect religious freedom.