| A | B |
|---|
| Boston Massacre (1770) | British troops fired on unruly New Englanders in 1770, showing that the crown was willing to use force to compel the colonists to obey British law |
| Checks & balances | Government is divided into braches possessing special powers that are shared with other groups |
| Citizen | Person with rights and responsibilities in a particular community, country or state |
| Civic Virtue | Setting aside personal interests in order to promote the public good |
| Civil Rights | Freedom of conscience and privacy protection from government discrimination |
| Committees of Correspondence | A network formed to publicize and organize colonists' opposition to British policies |
| Common Law | Accumulated legal opinions of judges that provide guidelines for later cases |
| Consent | Essential to a Legitimate Government. The people agree to be governed. |
| Constitutional Government | Powers of the government are limited by a set of customs |
| Declaration of Independence (1776) | Written primarily by Thomas Jefferson, this 1776 document renounced British authority over the American colonies |
| Due Process of Law | Government cannot act on the governed except through agreed on procedural rules |
| English Bill of Rights (1689) | Passed by Parliament in 1689, it guaranteed rights to trial by jury, bail, right to petition government, and bans cruel and unusual punishment |
| Established religion | One set of family and moral standards that all citizens must obey |
| Factions | Interest groups that were feared as harmful to the common good in the Classical Roman Republic. |
| Feudalism | Political organization in which a lord gives land to other men in return for services and military loyalty |
| First Continental Congress (1774) | 1774 Philadelphia meeting of delegates from 12 colonies called to force the British government to alter its policies toward the colonies. Its vote to boycott trade with Great Britain was viewed as an act of open defiance |
| Fundamental Orders of Connecticut (1639) | 1639 constitution that created a law-making body for governing three New England towns |
| Habeas Corpus | To have the body (protection against illegal imprisonment) |
| Intolerable Acts (1774) | Also known as the Punitive Acts, these 1774 laws closed Boston harbor to all trade harming colonists economically |
| Legislative Supremacy | Organizing government in such a way that the greatest power rests in an elected representatives |
| Limited Government | Rule that respects restraints such as free periodic elections on their powers |
| Massachusetts Body of Liberties (1641) | 1641 Colonial charter that guaranteed right to jury trial, free elections and private property ownership. It prohibited self-incrimination and cruel and unusual punishment. |
| Massachusetts Constitution (1780) | Drafted by John Adams this document featured an unusually strong governor and separate representation for different social groups |
| Mayflower Compact (1620) | The Pilgrims' 1620 covenant which provided for a civil body that could make laws and appoint officers |
| Minutemen | Civilian militia composed of colonists who pledged to respond instantly to any British attacks |
| Baron de Montesquieu | French political philosopher who advocated dividing government power among social classes |
| Moral Education | Teaching young citizens to develop right habits through religion, literature, poetry, and music |
| Nation | A people with common customs whose government has sovereign control over a certain territory |
| Natural Rights | Life, liberty, and property. The essence of humanity |
| The Law of Nature | No one ought to harm another in his life health liberty or possessions (John Locke). |
| Parliament | An advisory council of nobles that developed into a powerful representative legislature |
| Petition of Right (1628) | Charles I agreed in 1628 that taxes could only be raised with Parliament's consent, and guarded against forcing citizens to quarter the king's soldiers |
| Political Rights | Control over government; right to vote, run for office |
| Popular Sovereignty | Idea that sovereign government authority is derived from the governed. All of the original state constitutions embodied this basic notion |
| Primogeniture | Restricted inheritance of British lands to eldest sons |
| Quartering Act (1765) | 1765 Law that obliged colonists to host British soldiers in their homes |
| Right | Claim to have or obtain something, or to act in a way justified on legal or moral grounds |
| Right of revolution | Withdrawal of consent from a government that fails to protect people's rights |
| Rights of Englishman | Fundamental customary legal rights enjoyed by all subjects of English monarchs |
| Seven Years War (1756-1763) | Prolonged, expensive military conflict between Great Britain and France for control of colonial America |
| Social Contract | Each individual agrees to live under a government with power to make laws that must be obeyed |
| Sons of Liberty | Organized patriots who engaged in violent protests against the Stamp Act |
| Stamp Act (1765) | Tax that required colonists starting in 1765 to pay extra for everything from land deeds to playing cards |
| Stamp Act Congress (1765) | 1765 New York meeting of colonial delegates who petitioned the British crown to repeal what they viewed as an illegitimate tax |
| State of Nature | John Locke's idea of life without government |
| Suffrage | Right to vote |
| Tea Act (1773) | 1773 law that reasserted Parliament's authority to tax colonists, triggering the Boston Tea Party |
| Virginia Declaration of Rights (1776) | Written by George Mason in 1776, this state's bill of rights contained the first written guarantee of religious freedom |
| Writs of Assistance | Authorized crown officials to conduct general searches in the American colonies |
| Thomas Hobbes | Natural rights thinker who argued the need for strong government in "The Leviathan" |
| Magna Carta | The “Great Charter” of English liberties, forced from King John by the English barons at Runnymede, June 15, 1215. |
| Government | 1) The people and institutions with the power and authority to establish and enforce laws and policies. |
| Republic | Representative democracy that is usually led by a President and has no inherited offices |
| Junta | Rule by a small number of military officers. |
| Primogeniture | Practice of limiting inheritance of land to the owner's eldest son |
| Rule of Law | Principle that the people and their rulers are both subject to the same laws |
| Lexington & Concord | Fighting in these towns marked the beginning of the Revolutionary War in April 1775 |
| Politics | The struggle over who gets what when and how. |
| Unitary Government | One central government controls all political subdivisions |
| A League of Friendship | Sovereign States |
| Federal Government | Power is divided between a central government and its subdivisions |
| Autocracy | Rule by one who holds both authority and power |
| Monarchy | One ruler gains power through family ties or inheritance |
| Constitutional Monarchy | One ruler shares authority with an elected legislature and must follow their country’s laws and constitution |
| A small group of powerful people rule | Oligarchy |
| Totalitarian Rule | One ruler shares authority with an elected legislature and must follow their country’s laws and constitution |
