Influence on US government

Justice 1000 B.C.E

Direct Democracy 500 B.C.E

Seek to create a just society based on respect for the law

Representative Government 500 B.C.E

Equality in the Eyes of God 50 C.E

Citizens gathered to discuss and solve their local problems

Decisions making by officials elected from the citizenry

Religious Equality

Rule of Law 1215

Principle that government is based on

Limited Government 1628

Individual Rights 1689

Power exercised by the government is restricted

Thomas Hobbs 1588-1679

Rights claimed by humans for being humans

John Locke 1632-1704

English philosopher who developed notion of a social contract between rulers and subject

Baron de Montesquieu 1689-1755

English political theorist and philosopher whose ideas helped lay foundations for democratic government

Jean-Jacques Rousseau 1712-1778

French aristocrat and political philosopher believed in democracy was best for of democracy

Code of Laws 1641

French Philosopher believed that people were naturally good but were corrupted and enslaved by society

Congress forms committee 1776

Colonists in Massachusetts create New England's first code of laws

Stamp Act 1765

Congress forms committe to draft a declaration of independence consisting of Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Ben Franklin, Rodger Sherman, Robert R. Livingston

Townshend Acts 1767

A tax levied by Parliament on all paper goods in the colonies raises cries of no taxation without representation

Boston Massacre 1770

These acts place duties on goods imported into the colonies.

Boston Tea Party and Intolerable acts 1773-1774

Protesters in Boston provoke British soldiers, causing them to fire into the crowd

Fighting Begins 1775

Colonists protesting the Tea Act dump taxed tea into Boston harbor.

Declaration of Independence 1776

Militia troops skirmish with British soldiers at Lexington and Concord, beginning the American Revolution

Virginia Declaration of Rights 1776

Continental Congress adopts a resolution declaring the colonies to be free and independent states

Constitutional Convention Began 1787

Served as a model for other state constitutions and later for the U.S Bill of Rights

Constitution was signed 1787

Delegates from all states except Rhode Island came together at the Pennsylvania State House later known as independence hall.

Ratified the Constitution

Constitution was signed by 39 out of 42 delegates present

Rhode Island Joins New Union 1790

Delaware, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey ratified the Constitution

Rhode Island was the last state to join the New Union in 1790

George Washington Becomes president 1789

On April 30, 1789 Washington placed his hand on the bible and said his oath