Overview of Foundations of America

DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE  The Declaration of Independence was a statement adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, which announced that the thirteen American colonies, then at war with Great Britain, regarded themselves as independent states, and no longer a part of the British Empire.Continental Congressthirteen American coloniesGreat Britain British Empire 

UNALIENABLE RIGHTS  NOT TO BE SEPARATED OR GIVEN AWAY BY ANYONE

U.S. CONSTITUTION  The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. The Constitution was adopted on September 17, 1787, by the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and ratified by conventions in eleven states. supreme lawUnited States of AmericaConstitutional Conventionratified states 

BILL OF RIGHTS  The Bill of Rights, constitutes the first 10 amendments of the U.S. Constitution.

LIMITED GOVERNMENT  Restricted with reference to governing powers by limitations prescribed in laws and in a constitution constitution 

SEPERATION OF POWERS  Separation of powers, therefore, refers to the division of government responsibilities into distinct branches.

FEDERALISM  Federalism is a system of government in which a written constitution divides power between a central or national government and state governments.

CHECKS AND BALANCES  These three branches are not independent of one another because the Constitution set up a system of checks and balances to help ensure that no one branch became too powerful. Each branch has powers that it can use to check and balance the operations and power of the other two branches.

POPULAR SOVEREIGNTY  GOVERNMENT BY THE CONSENT OF THE GOVERNED

ALEXIS DE TOQUEVILLE  Tocqueville saw equality as an emerging and unstoppable force in modern life; Tocqueville saw democracy as an equation that balanced liberty and equality, concern for the individual as well as the community.equality libertyequality

EGALITARIANISM  A belief in human equality especially with respect to social, political, and economic affairs

INDIVIDUALISM  Stressing individual initiative, action, and interests

LAISSEZ-FAIRE  BELIEF THAT THE GOVERNMENT SHOULD INTERFERE AS LITTLE AS POSSIBLE IN ECONOMIC AFFAIRS 

E PLURIBUS UNUM  "From Many, One" or Out of Many, One

EMINENT DOMAIN  Eminent domain, broadly understood, is the power of the state to seize private... property; the government has the power to take public facilities, highways, railroads, and homes

POPULISM  A political strategy based on a calculated appeal to the interests or prejudices of ordinary people; grass- roots political party

ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION  Was an agreement among the 13 founding states that established the United States of America as a confederation of sovereign states and served as the United States’ first constitution; a failed form of government 

CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION  Took place from May 14 to September 17, 1787, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to address problems in governing the United States of America, which had been operating under the Articles of Confederation following independence from Great BritainPhiladelphia, PennsylvaniaUnited States of America Articles of ConfederationGreat Britain

“IN GOD WE TRUST”  "In God we trust" was adopted as the official motto of the United States in 1956 as an alternative or replacement to the unofficial motto of E pluribus unum, adopted when the Great Seal of the United States was created and adopted in 1782.motto of the United States E pluribus unum Great Seal of the United States

JOHN LOCKE  Most scholars trace the phrase, "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness," in the American Declaration of Independence to Locke's theory of rightslife, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness

LIBERTY  Liberty is the ability of individuals to have agency (control over their own actions).agency 

DEMOCRACY  A government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly or indirectly through a system of representation usually involving periodically held free electionsvestedelections

THE FEDERALIST PAPERS  A SERIES OF ESSAYS PROMPTING THE ACCEPTANCE OF THE U.S. CONSTITUTION

ANTI-FEDERALISTS  GROUP THAT OPPOSED THE RATIFICATION (ACCEPTANCE) OF THE U.S. CONSTITUTION