| A | B |
|---|
| democracy | a government in which people rule |
| representative government | citizens elect public officeholders who make the laws on theri behalf |
| consent of the governed | the people are the source of any and all government power |
| the rule of law | the government and its leaders must follow the law |
| individual rights | all human beings have certain basic rights |
| limited government | the government is not all powerful |
| republic | a nation with a representative government; the U.S. is this |
| Charter of The Virginia Company of London | 1606, gave important guarantees to the settlers who came to Jamestown |
| The Stamp Act | 1765, placed a tax on the colonists without any vote of approval by the colonists' own elected assemblies |
| The Virginia Declaration of Rights | June, 1776 - Virginia broke away from English rule and began forming its own new government |
| The Declaration of Independence | July, 1776 Establishes the idea that all people are equal under the law and it declares the colonies independent from Great Britain |
| Articles of Confederation | adopted during the Revolution - the first attempt by the 13 original states to create a national government |
| The Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom | 1786, a law written by Thomas Jefferson that established freedom of religion in Virginia |
| The Constitution | 1787, written to replace the Articles of Confederation |
| Bill of Rights | added to Constitution in 1791; guarantees many basic, individual rights |
| The Preamble | the first paragraph of the Constitution |
| Thomas Jefferson | main author of Declaration of Independence and the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom |
| George Mason | prepared The Virginia Declaration of Rights |
| "certain unalienable rights" | life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness |
| This document gave most power to states and left the national government very weak | Articles of Confederation |
