Unit 2 – The Shaping of our Government RAP: Why is it important to prevent the abuse of power in government?

Abolish To formally put an end to This is a petition to abolish slavery.

Charter A written document from a government or ruler that grants certain rights to an individual, group, organization, or to people in general. In colonial times, a charter granted land to a person or a company along with the right to start a colony on that land.

Common Law Based on custom and the decisions of law courts

Diplomacy The practice of carrying on formal relationships with governments of other countries.

English Bill of Rights An act passed by Parliament in 1689 that limited the power of the monarch. This document established Parliament as the most powerful branch of the English government.

Feudalism System of social, economic, and political organization. The system was based on the control of the land.

Legislative Supremacy A system of government in which the legislative branch has ultimate power.

Loyalists Colonists who opposed American independence and remained loyal loyal to Great Britain during the American Revolution.

Natural Law A higher, unchanging set of rules that govern human relations believed by the Founders to have come from “Nature and Nature’s God” from the Declaration of Independence.

Parliament Legislative body of British Government

Patriots Those Americans who supported the war for independence against Great Britain.

Right to Petition The legal claim that allows a person to ask his or her government to correct things that he or she thinks are wrong or to do things he or she believes are needed.

Petition of Right A statute that limited the English monarch’s power to tax people without the consent of Parliament and guaranteed certain rights to English subjects.

Popular Sovereignty The natural rights concept that ultimate political authority rests with the people.

Rule of Law Both government and the governed must obey the law.

Self-Evident Obvious, easy for anyone to see

Tories Also known as loyalists – they held deep loyalty to the home country

Treason Betrayal of one’s country, especially by giving aid to an enemy in wartime or by plotting to overthrow the government. Treason is carefully defined in the Constitution to ensure that government cannot abuse its powers against dessenters.

Unalienable Rights Same as inalienable rights – fundamental rights that every person has that cannot be taken away by government. This phrase was used in the Virginia Declaration of Rights and the Declaration of Independence.

Veto The right of a branch of government to reject a bill that has been passed in an effort to delay or prevent its enactment. Under the U.S. Constitution it is the power of the president to refuse to sign a billed passed by Congress, thereby preventing it from becoming a law. The president’s veto may be overridden by a two- thirds vote of both the Senate and House of Representatives.

WIO - Brain Chain Instructions: 1. Make a chart like the example below in your WIO section of your notebook. Your chart should have 10 boxes under the Concepts column. 2. Create a list of 10 vocabulary words. 3. Then, in the “Links” column, write a sentence explaining how each pair of terms is connected. Each sentence should use two vocabulary words as they relate to our study.