The Law & Liberty Timeline
30 Phil, Chapter 24, Locke, Touchstone 62: Checks and Balances. For the preservation of individual liberty and the prevention of tyranny, political power must be distributed among different branches of government—executive, legislative, and judicial. It is grounded in the idea that human nature is easily corruptible and concentrating power is dangerous. This diversification embodies the […]
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30 Phil, Chapter 24, Locke, Touchstone 61: The Social Contract. The social contract emerges out of natural rights and civil government. A government formed by the “collective will” of the people specifically to protect these rights. Citizens consent to be governed, but this consent comes with the stipulation that their inalienable rights must be respected
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30 Phil, Chapter 24, Locke, Touchstone 63: Law. Law is one of the three truth hammers because it aims to uncover specific truths using empirical data, logic, reason, facts, and peer review.
30 Phil, Chapter 24, Locke, Touchstone 60: Due Process. Due process is the procedural safeguard that stands between the individual and arbitrary exercise of authority. It is the legal structure that prevents your inherent rights from being unfairly stripped away. In essence, due process is the set of rules that ensures that if the government—or
The Twelve Tables were rules citizens had to follow, and limits on the powers of the government. This idea was used several times during Roman history to force the Patricians, aristocrats, to consider the views of the plebeian citizens, commoners. In 451 BCE, plebeians went on strike to protest the tyranny of magistrates. The Twelve
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Basic Timeline: 1787 – Article 1, S2, P3 of the Constitution states, “Representatives and direct Taxes shall be … determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons…excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other Persons.” 1868 – 14th Amendment passed, it declared all persons “born or naturalized in the United States, and
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A set of about 300 legal laws written in stone from ancient Near East that withstood the test of time. Hammurabi, the sixth king of the First Dynasty of Babylonian, wrote it in cuneiform in the Old Babylonion dialect of Akkadian. The text itself was copied and studied by Mesopotamian scribes for over a millennium.
Bartholomew Legate was the last man burned at the stake in Smithfield where Roger Williams grew up. Just like Roger’s father, Bartholomew was in the clothing industry and may have interacted with Roger’s father at his shop. Either way, Roger Williams was about ten years old when Bartholomew was burned at the stake for simply
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Congress granted citizenship to all Native Americans born in the U.S. Until 1924, Native Americans were not citizens of the United States. Many Native Americans had, and still have, separate nations within the U.S. on designated reservation land. Even after the Indian Citizenship Act, some Native Americans weren’t allowed to vote because the right to
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Outlawed poll taxes as a voting requirement in federal elections. Conservatives used poll taxes to disenfranchise black voters in several states.
Prohibition started with the 18th Amendment and lasted for just 14 years until the 21st Amendment repealed it in 1933.
Granted African American men the right to vote, but not Native Americans nor women, by declaring that the “right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.”
Abolished slavery in the United States. Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation nearly three years earlier and the Civil War which started nearly five years earlier paved the path forward on this issue.
One state cannot sue another. US courts cannot hear cases nor make decisions against a state if it is sued by a someone who lives in another state or country. 12th Amendment: Procedure to elect a president and VP, then updated in 20th Amendment.
Common Sense is a pamphlet published by Thomas Paine in early 1776 advocating independence for the thirteen colonies from England. It was sold and distributed widely and read aloud at taverns and meeting places. Per capita, it had the largest sale and circulation of any book published in American history. the distinction between kings and
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The 14th Amendment was passed after the Civil War in 1866 and ratified by the states in 1868. It provided all citizens with “equal protection under the laws.” The 14th Amendment bans states from depriving citizens of life, liberty, or property without “due process of law” making the Constitution including the Bill of Rights the
