We The People Lesson Five

We The People

Lesson Five: What Were the British Origins of American Constitutionalism?
Terms to Know:

Charter- a written document from a government or a ruler which grants certain rights to an individual, group, organization, or the people in general

Contract- a binding agreement between two or more people

Custom- an accepted practice or way of behaving that is followed by tradition

Common law- the body of unwritten law developed in England from judicial decisions, based on custom and earlier judicial decision, which constitutes the basis of the English legal system and became part of American law

Due process of law- protection against arbitrary deprivation of life, liberty, or property

Feudalism- a political system in which land is given by a noble to his vassals in exchange for personal allegiance

Magna Carta- the Great Charter of freedom granted in 1215 by King John of England by demand of his barons

Monarch-king or queen

Manorialism- the form of economic life of the Middle Ages, when most people were involved I agriculture and land was divided up into self-contained farms or manors

Parliament- the British Legislature, which consists of two houses: The House of Lords- for the nobility and The House of Commons- for the people

Rights of Englishmen- basic rights, established over time, that all subjects of the English monarch were understood to have

Royal Charter-documents which confirmed the validity of the “rights of Englishmen”

Subject-those who were “subject” to the king’s rule

Tenet-principles or doctrines

Vassal- a person granted land by a feudal lord in return for military or other service

Question & Answer:

1. What is meant by the “rights of Englishmen”? How were these rights established?

· They were certain basic rights guaranteed to all subjects of the English monarch. They could not be changed or violated. These rights included trial by jury, security on one’s own home from unlawful entry, and no taxation without consent. The rights were established by custom and aw as well as royal charters.

2. What is the common law? How does it develop?

· The common law consists of the accumulated legal opinions of judges explaining their decisions in specific court cases. These decisions provide precedents for later judgments.

3. What was feudalism and how did it contribute to the development of constitutional government?

· Feudalism was a form of political organization in which land is given by a noble to his vassals in exchange for personal allegiance. This is important because of the idea of contracts. Feudal government depended on a series of agreements or contracts between lords and vassals. Thus feudalism introduced the idea of government based on a contract- those in power pledged to respect the rights of people who gave them allegiance.

4. What is the Magna Carta? How was it created? How did it contribute to the development of constitutional government?

· The Magna Carta, the Great Charter of freedom granted in 1215 by King John of England, which confirmed certain traditional rights that could no be violated. It was created as a result of King John trying to take away liberties from the barons, a title of nobility given to the principle vassals, who fought back and won. As a result, the Magna Carta was drafted. It contributed to the development of constitutional government because it set up certain precedents like:

Ø Government should be based on the rule of law, in which the rule of a monarch was limited, and which set up due process of law.

Ø Certain basic rights may not be denied by government, which meant that established rights of the governed could not be violated

Ø Government should be based on an agreement or contract between the ruler and the people to be ruled, which meant there was a principle of agreement as the basis of a legitimate government.

Later Generations would discover that the Magna Carta had seeds of other constitutional principles such as “no taxation without representation”.