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Unit 2 - American Government

Terms in this set (14)

Magna Carta
A written legal agreement signed in 1215 that limited the English monarch's power.
Petition of Right
Document signed by Charles I of England that further limited the powers of the English monarch.
English Bill of Rights
Document signed in 1689 that guaranteed the rights of English citizens.
Social Contract
An agreement by which people give up some freedoms for an organized society.
Leviathan
Enlightenment-era work by Thomas Hobbes in which he expresses his ideas on government.
Natural Laws
The rights of "life, liberty, and property" that John Locke argued for.
Checks and Balances
Montesquieu's plan of a
separation of to keep the government from getting too powerful in one branch.
Mayflower Compact
Formal document, written in 1620, that provided law and order to the Plymouth colony
Common Sense
A 1776 essay by Thomas Paine that urged the colonies to declare independence.
Virginia Declaration of Rights
Document written by George Mason and served as a model/example for the U.S. Bill of Rights.
Virginia Statute of Religious Freedom
Written by Thomas Jefferson and led to separation of church and state and served as a model for the 1st Amendment.
Declaration of Independence
Document written in 1776 by Thomas Jefferson that declared the colonists' intention to break away from British rule.
Citizenship
The rights and duties of members of a state.
Majority Rule
A system in which the decision of more than half the people is accepted by all.
THIS SET IS OFTEN IN FOLDERS WITH...