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Magna Carta is a 1215 English charter that established the principle that everyone, including the king, was subject to the law, limiting royal power
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In 1620, Plymouth, Massachusetts, became the site of America's second permanent English colony -
was a 1628 English document presented to King Charles I by Parliament that limited the monarch's power by declaring certain actions unconstitutional
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also known as the American Revenue Act, was a British law taxing sugar, molasses, wine, and other goods imported into American colonies, aimed at raising revenue for Britain post-French Indian War and curbing smuggling -
was a British law imposing a direct tax on American colonists for various printed materials -
The First Continental Congress was a meeting of delegates from 12 of the 13 American colonies -
It Created British tea monopoly and Sparked Boston Tea Party
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known by American colonists as the Intolerable Acts, were a series of punitive laws passed by the British Parliament in 1774 to punish Massachusetts for the Boston Tea Party -
British retaliation → colonists label them “Intolerable Acts”
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Called for repeal of Coercive Acts, boycott of British goods
Formed militias committees of safety -
The Second Continental Congress was the governing body of the American colonies from 1775 to 1781, meeting in Philadelphia to manage the escalating conflict with Great Britain
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Written by Thomas Jefferson, influenced by John Locke
Lists grievances against the king
Original draft criticized slave trade (later removed) -
Wage war, make peace
Settle disputes between states
No power to tax or raise armies
9 of 13 states needed to pass laws -
revise Articles of Confederation
Only 5 states sent delegates
Hamilton Madison called for a full convention in -
Held in Philadelphia
Key delegates: Washington, Franklin, Madison, Hamilton
Most were wealthy, educated elites -
It guarantees civil rights and liberties to the individual—like freedom of speech, press, and religion. It sets rules for due process of law and reserves all powers -
Supported Constitution; strong central gov’t
Federalist Papers defended the new plan -
The Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution protects the right of the people to keep and bear arms -
The Seventh Amendment protects the right to a jury trial in certain federal civil cases, ensuring that facts decided by a jury aren't easily overturned by judges, preserving historical common law practices, -
The Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution grants several key rights, most famously the right to remain silent (protection against self-incrimination), the right to a grand jury indictment for serious crimes, protection from double jeopardy (being tried twice for the same offense), and the right to due process of law, ensuring fair legal proceedings -
The Third Amendment to the U.S. Constitution prevents the government from forcing citizens to house soldiers in their homes without consent during peacetime, and only by law during wartime -
The Sixth Amendment guarantees crucial rights to those accused in criminal prosecutions, ensuring a fair legal process: the right to a speedy and public trial, an impartial jury from the crime's location, -
The 11th Amendment was ratified on February 7, 1795, making it the first amendment to the U.S. Constitution after the Bill of Rights. Congress proposed the amendment on March 4, 1794, in response to the Supreme Court's 1793 ruling -
Marbury v. Madison was a landmark 1803 U.S. Supreme Court case that established the principle of judicial review. -
The 12th Amendment, ratified in 1804, reformed the U.S. Electoral College by requiring separate ballots for President and Vice President, preventing the chaotic situation where the top two vote-getters (potentially from different parties) became President -
McCulloch v. Maryland (1819) was a landmark U.S. Supreme Court case affirming Congress's implied powers under the Necessary and Proper Clause to create a national bank
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is a pivotal U.S. Supreme Court case that affirmed the federal government's authority to regulate interstate commerce under the Constitution's Commerce Clause.
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The 13th Amendment, ratified in December 1865, formally abolished slavery and involuntary servitude in the United States, except as punishment for a crime, making it the first of the Reconstruction Amendments that followed the Civil War -
The 14th Amendment, ratified in 1868, is a cornerstone of American civil rights, granting citizenship to all born or naturalized in the U.S. (including formerly enslaved people) and guaranteeing states can't deny anyone life, liberty, or property without due process of law -
The 15th Amendment, ratified in 1870, granted African American men the right to vote by prohibiting states from denying suffrage based on race, color, or prior servitude -
The Progressive Era (roughly the 1890s to the 1920s) was a period of widespread social and political reform in the United States, which aimed to address the problems caused by industrialization, urbanization, and political corruption -
The 16th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, ratified in 1913, grants Congress the power to levy a federal income tax on individuals and corporations, without needing to apportion it among states based on population -
The New Deal was a series of government programs, regulations, and projects launched by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the 1930s to combat the effects of the Great Depression
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No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of President more than once. -
The "Great Society" was a set of domestic programs initiated by U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson in the 1960s to eliminate poverty and racial injustice through a vast expansion of the federal government's role in social welfare
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The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was a landmark U.S. law that outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin, banning segregation
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Constitutionally Speaking About The 10th Amendment. | New ...The 10th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution reinforces federalism by stating that any powers not specifically given to the federal government, nor withheld from the states, are reserved for the states or the people -
The Twenty-fourth Amendment (Amendment XXIV) of the United States Constitution prohibits both Congress and the states from requiring the payment of a poll tax or any other tax to vote in federal elections. -
The Voting Rights Act (VRA) of 1965, signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson, was a landmark civil rights law that outlawed discriminatory voting practices like literacy tests
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What the First Amendment protects — and what it doesn't ...The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution protects five fundamental freedoms: religion (no establishment, free exercise), speech, the press, peaceful assembly, and the right to petition -
The 26th Amendment, which lowered the U.S. voting age to 18, was officially ratified on July 1, 1971, after Ohio became the 38th state to approve it, making it the fastest constitutional amendment ratified in U.S. history. -
United States v. Lopez was a significant 1995 Supreme Court case concerning the scope of Congress's power under the Commerce Clause.
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The 1996 welfare reform, officially the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA), replaced the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program with the new Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program
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McDonald v. City of Chicago was a significant 2010 U.S. Supreme Court case that held the right to keep and bear arms for self-defense is a fundamental right applicable to state and local governments