...The creation of the U. S. Constitution was not as easily done as some people would think. As with most things done in life, people learn by trial and error. There are many documents that are of great significance that attributed to the creation of the U.S Constitution. The five documents or events that helped with the creation of the United States Constitution was the Magna Carta (1215), the Mayflower Compact (1620), the Declaration of Independence (1776), the Articles of Confederation (1777), and the Federalist Papers (1787-1788). Going in order, I will begin with the Magna Carta (1215). According to the NEH, “the Magna Carta served to lay the foundation for the evolution of parliamentary government and subsequent declarations of rights in Great Britain and the United States.” The Magna Carta defends the “dew process” of the law; everyone has legal rights that the states to follow. “Near the completion of the 13th century, the Magna Carta contributed to the support of the idea of a “higher law,” one that could not be modified by executive mandate or legislative acts,” (NEH, 1996). The notion helped to enfold toward the Supremacy clause of the United States Constitution and enforced by the Supreme Court. This was only the beginning to the making of the Constitution. The second document was the Mayflower Compact (1620), and it was the “scaffold to the Plymouth colony. Being that this document was convenient where by the settlers would subordinate their rights to follow laws...
Words: 869 - Pages: 4
...explored through the relationship between the Magna Carta and the legal concept of the Habeas corpus and the understanding of the separation in powers and how they uphold the rule of law. The relationship between The Magna Carta and the legal concept of Habeas Corpus is of close proportions as the Habeas Corpus roots from the 17th century adding a greater advancement in legal times toward the Magna Carta which was contextually developed in June 15, 1215, which King John set as a guarantee to all...
Words: 911 - Pages: 4
...Code of Hammurabi: The whole purpose of the Code of Hammurabi was to improve the harmony that the people within the Babylon era had with one another. At this point in time, people were migrating to larger cities and Hammurabi suggested that these people were to be accepted and if anyone were to disregard the code, they would be dealt with accordingly with severe punishments including death. Draco’s Law: Draco created a law which more or less followed the guidelines of democracy. Under Draco’s law, the King had limited powers and could not pass additional laws as he saw fit. Instead the laws would have to be presented before a chosen body of governing officials for evaluation and they would decide from there if the laws were justified. Also a lot of the guidelines within the law were direction proportional to the code that Hammurabi had set forth. Law of the Twelve Tables: “Lex Duodecim Tabularum” (Latin) was the basis for Roman law and the Roman Constitution. The law primarily dealt with the general public or Rome. People were tied together in ethical bounds and they were granted several rights in regards to property and economic rights, similar to the foundation of the United States Constitution. Justinian Code: The Justinian Code was another form of guidance which was intended to be an addition to the Roman Constitution and codes that had been set forth in previous eras. Justinian I had made this addition primarily to deal with a larger, more circuitous population since...
Words: 614 - Pages: 3
...citations for your sources. Documents Summary What was its influence on the Constitution? Magna Carta Magna Carta, also called Magna Carta Libertatum or The Great Charter of the Liberties of England, is an English charter, originally issued in Latin in the year 1215, translated into vernacular-French as early as 1219,[1] and reissued later in the 13th century in changed versions. The later versions excluded the most direct challenges to the monarch's authority that had been present in the 1215 charter. The charter first passed into law in 1225; the 1297 version, with the long title (originally in Latin) "The Great Charter of the Liberties of England, and of the Liberties of the Forest," still remains on the statute books of England and Wales. The 1215 charter required King John of England to proclaim certain liberties, and accept that his will was not arbitrary, for example by explicitly accepting that no "freeman" (in the sense of non-serf) could be punished except through the law of the land, a right which is still in existence today. Magna Carta was the principal document forced onto an English King by a group of his matters, the feudal barons, in an effort to limit his powers by law and protect their privileges. It was followed and directly influenced by the Charter of Liberties in 1100, in which King Henry I had specified particular areas wherein his powers have a limit. The influence of Magna Carta can be clearly seen in the United States Bill of Rights...
Words: 3705 - Pages: 15
...Evolution of the Right to Petition, and Modern Applications Back when I lived in Houston, TX there was a plan to place a small sewage treatment facility right next to the entrance of my neighborhood. As soon as residents heard of this plan they immediately gathered to petition our local government to stop these plans in their tracks. Soon after submitting their petition the group was met with a lawsuit from the company responsible for construction, claiming charges of defamation. Every day Americans assume they are able to enjoy and exercise the inalienable rights that were protected by our founding fathers in the Bill of Rights. However, in recent years it has come to the attention of many that our right to petition, as protected in the first amendment of the Bill of Rights, may be at risk. The source of concern is a controversial one that forces us to weigh the importance of our right to enter a plea against another citizen, against our right to petition freely without fear of redress. Over the past couple decades Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation in government, also know as SLAPPs, have become a tool used by corporations (especially those in real-estate) to silence critics who petition against their actions. The goal of delay and distraction is accomplished by forcing defendants to bear the burden of litigation costs in order to defend themselves from the impending lawsuit. Twenty-Eight states have already passed anti-SLAPP statutes, however I believe it is...
Words: 3478 - Pages: 14
... 5. What does philosopher Thomas Hobbes believe in? 6. What does philosopher John Locke believe in? 7. What does philosopher Jean-Jacque Rousseau believe in? 8. Draw out a spectrum including the words individualism, collectivism, Hobbes, Locke and Rousseau. 9. Where was liberalism “born”? 10. What is meant by a liberal democracy? 11. What is meant by social contract? 12. What do the Magna Carta, French Revolution and Declaration of the Rights of Man, and American Revolution and Declaration of Independence/Constitution have in common? 13. Who is Adam Smith and famous book did he write? 14. Who is Karl Marx and what famous book did he write? 15. Draw out a spectrum with the words individualism, collectivism, Adam Smith and Karl Marx. Issue 2: Is resistance to liberalism justified? 16. What is liberalism? What are the major characteristics of liberalism? 17. What was mercantilism? Where did this occur, and between which countries? 18. What is meant by laissez-faire capitalism? 19. Why did capitalism emerge out of a response to mercantilism?...
Words: 868 - Pages: 4
...For other uses, see Constitution (disambiguation). A constitution is a set of fundamental principles or established precedents according to which a state or other organization is governed.[1] These rules together make up, i.e. constitute, what the entity is. When these principles are written down into a single document or set of legal documents, those documents may be said to embody a written constitution; if they are written down in a single comprehensive document, it is said to embody a codified constitution. Constitutions concern different levels of organizations, from sovereign states to companies and unincorporated associations. A treaty which establishes an international organization is also its constitution, in that it would define how that organization is constituted. Within states, a constitution defines the principles upon which the state is based, the procedure in which laws are made and by whom. Some constitutions, especially codified constitutions, also act as limiters of state power, by establishing lines which a state's rulers cannot cross, such as fundamental rights. An example is the constitution of the United States of America. George Washington at Constitutional Convention of 1787 signing of the U.S. Constitution. The Constitution of India is the longest written constitution of any sovereign country in the world,[2] containing 444 articles in 22 parts,[3][4] 12 schedules and 118 amendments, with 117,369 words in its English-language translation,[5]...
Words: 9424 - Pages: 38
...This was a major fear throughout the Cold War, from 1947 to 1991, since communism goes against the United States’ democratic capitalist system. Congress expressed fears of communism coming into the United States through immigrants, especially those who did not assimilate with American culture. Their solution to this would be similar to the Puritan’s solution. In order to keep dangerous communists out of the United States, even more limited and selective immigration was the solution. The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 now allowed for communists to be deported. This act also gave immigrants from Great Britain, Ireland, and Germany an unfair two-thirds majority of the immigration quota spots, which was an apparent attempt to deter immigrants from other countries, such as China, which is a communist country. Another effort to prevent the spread of communism was led by Senator Joseph McCarthy in the 1950s. During this time, McCarthy investigated suspected communists in the government and entertainment industry and this restricted some work opportunities and some civil...
Words: 1549 - Pages: 7
...back home sending out conquistadors and travelers to discover new lands, routes, trading posts, resources and map out the world. * Upon arriving to the new world, the Europeans began to kill off any resistance to their campaign. Attacked the natives, destroyed their lands, began to farm for natural resources, and enslaved some of the indigenous people. * Europeans believed by law and their given rights that their Gods had permitted them to take over and exploit any new cultures they encountered. * The Spanish Reconquista of 1492 made it so that it justified Christianity by exiling all of the Jews and Muslims. Therefore Christianity had to be spread, making it “alright” to overpower others and take over. * Christopher Columbus is sent out in 1492 to the Americas. The exploration lead to them colonizing, which later leads to the conquests. Encomienda System: The encomienda was a legal system that was employed mainly by the Spanish crown during the Spanish colonization of the Americas to regulate Native Americans and autonomy. * In the Encomienda the Spanish crown would grant their conquistadors with both land and labor. They would be responsible for a number of Native Americans living in their land. * In...
Words: 2132 - Pages: 9
...government to force an individual to come before the courts. By permitting an independent judge to analysis the legitimacy of the individual’s confinement and instruct that the detainee be freed if the circumstances are unlawful, habeas corpus functions as a safeguard against unlawful seizure, arrest, and torture. While habeas corpus has been upheld as a fundamental right of the imprisoned, this safeguard has been obstructed throughout our history, making the habeas corpus right, at times, a subject of our desire for refuge during times of emergency. The beginnings of habeas corpus can be traced to the year 1215 in the 39th article of the Magna Carta signed by King John, which says that: "No man may be restrained or confined except by the lawful declaration of his peers or by the decree of the land" (Farrell, 2009). At first, habeas corpus was a resource used to summons an individual before the courts. However, by the turn of the 14th Century, higher courts were using the Writ of Habeas Corpus as a way of examining the surroundings of an individual’s confinement by the lower courts (Farrell, 2009). By the end of the 16th Century, the courts were using habeas corpus as a way to make inquiries into the imprisonments of individuals ordered by the King’s Council. (Duker, 1980) During the course of the 17th Century, Parliament looked for a way to reinforce...
Words: 2102 - Pages: 9
...prosecutors decide to charge a person arrested by the police, they do so by: A. a. notifying by memo the judge who, if the case goes to trial, will probably preside. B. b. notifying by memo the lawyer representing the accused. C. c. filing a complaint, information, or indictment with the court. D. d. notifying the accused by letter. Answer Key: C Question 2 of 20 5.0 Points In the Supreme Court case County of Riverside v. McLaughlin, involving a defendant who argued the state took too long to effectuate a judicial determination of probable cause after his warrantless arrest, the Court held that the test for determining if there has been a "prompt" judicial determination of probable cause is whether the arrestee was brought before a judicial officer: A. a. without unreasonable delay, under all the circumstances. B. b. within 36 hours of arrest, ordinarily. C. c. within 48 hours of arrest, ordinarily. D. d. within 24 hours of arrest, ordinarily. Answer Key: C Question 3 of 20 5.0 Points Although practices vary among jurisdictions, ordinarily an indigent accused is appointed an attorney: A. a. by the police at time of arrest. B. b. by a magistrate at the first appearance. C. c. by a judge at the preliminary hearing. D. d. by a judge at trial. Answer Key: B Question 4 of 20 5.0 Points According to the Supreme Court opinion in U.S. v. Salerno, involving the detention prior to trial of defendants...
Words: 7965 - Pages: 32
...at a correct conclusion, as an appeal in criminal cases throws the whole case open for review, it being the duty of the court to correct such error as may be found in the judgment appealed from.[1] Petitioner Lydia Gelig (Lydia) impugns the Decision[2] promulgated on January 10, 2006 by the Court of Appeals (CA) in CA-G.R. CR No. 27488 that vacated and set aside the Decision[3] of the Regional Trial Court (RTC), Cebu City, Branch 23, in Criminal Case No. CU-10314. The RTC Decision convicted Lydia for committing the complex crime of direct assault with unintentional abortion but the CA found her guilty only of the crime of slight physical injuries. Factual Antecedents On June 6, 1982, an Information[4] was filed charging Lydia with Direct Assault with Unintentional Abortion committed as follows: That on the 17th day of July, 1981 at around 10:00 o’clock in the morning, at Barangay Nailon, Municipality of Bogo, Province of Cebu, Philippines, and within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, the above-named accused, did, then and there, willfully, unlawfully, and feloniously assault, attack, employ force and...
Words: 22554 - Pages: 91
...Hammurabi Codes of Babylon), to Greco-Roman doctrines and through the work of philosophers and humanists such as St. Thomas Aquinas, Baruch Spinoza, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, Hugo Grotius, John Locke and Jean Jacques Rousseau. These philosophers all contributed to the concept of "natural law" which set the stage for wide recognition of human rights and freedoms. Natural law holds that people are born in an innately "good" state, and that certain fundamental rights can be reasonably deduced from this fact. Great precedents in the recognition and protection of specific human rights lie in such documents as the British Magna Carta, the United States Bill of Rights, and the French Declaration of the Rights of Man. Moreover, Human Rights law developed mostly in the 20th century in response to World War 11. Although the world had made great progress in defining human rights, it was the events of the late 1930’s and early 1940’s that threatened humanity’s most firmly held convictions. By the end of World War II, six million Jews of whom more than a million were children, were killed in Nazi concentration camps and extermination centers. In the middle of the 20th century, at the hands of a technologically advanced,...
Words: 3980 - Pages: 16
...government to force an individual to come before the courts. By permitting an independent judge to analysis the legitimacy of the individual’s confinement and instruct that the detainee be freed if the circumstances are unlawful, habeas corpus functions as a safeguard against unlawful seizure, arrest, and torture. While habeas corpus has been upheld as a fundamental right of the imprisoned, this safeguard has been obstructed throughout our history, making the habeas corpus right, at times, a subject of our desire for refuge during times of emergency. The beginnings of habeas corpus can be traced to the year 1215 in the 39th article of the Magna Carta signed by King John, which says that: "No man may be restrained or confined except by the lawful declaration of his peers or by the decree of the land" (Rohde, S 2010). At first, habeas corpus was a resource used to summons an individual before the courts. However, by the turn of the 14th Century, higher courts were using the Writ of Habeas Corpus as a way of examining the surroundings of an individual’s confinement by the lower courts (Farrell, B 2009). By the end of the 16th Century, the courts were using habeas corpus as a way to make inquiries into the imprisonments of individuals ordered by the King’s Council. (Duker, W 1980) During the course of the 17th Century, Parliament looked for a way to reinforce habeas corpus and bring the King’s actions inside of its parameter, resulting in the Habeas Corpus Act of 1679 (British History...
Words: 4427 - Pages: 18
... 2 WESTERN CIVILIZATIONS The French Revolution Napoleon Bonaparte The Industrial Revolution Advancing Industrialism Colonialism China and the West Social and Economic Realities Nineteenth-Century Social Theory: conservatism, liberalism & socialism The Radical View of Marx and Engels Picasso and the Birth of Cubism Futurism, Fauvism and Non Objective Art The Birth of Motion Pictures Freud and the Psyche Total War and Totalitarianism The First World War The Russian Revolution Nazi Totalitarianism The Second World War Identity and Liberation: Gandhi, Martin Luther King and Malcolm X 3 WESTERN CIVILIZATIONS The Black Death The most devastating natural catastrophe of the early modern era was the bubonic plague, which hit Europe in 1347 and destroyed one third to one half of its population within less than a century. Originating in Asia and spread by the Mongol tribes that dominated that vast area, the disease devastated China and the Middle East, interrupting long-distance trade and crossnatural encounters...
Words: 16933 - Pages: 68