1. influential civilizations
1.1. Great Britain
1.1.1. The constitution was influenced greatly by Great Britain, mainly the Magna Carta, we got the ideas for the political principles consent of the governed, limited government and rule of law.
1.2. Ancient Greece
1.2.1. the constitution used the basis of democracy even though we changed it to be representative
1.3. Ancient Rome
1.3.1. the idea of a representative government was given to us by how the ancient Romans.
2. Influential People
2.1. Thomas Jefferson
2.1.1. Thomas Jefferson was on of the most influential of any of them. he wrote the declaration of independence, and the Virginia statute for religious freedom
2.2. George Mason
2.2.1. George Mason wrote the Virginia Declaration of rights
2.3. King John
2.3.1. even though king john himself did not write the Magna Carta he was the one who made the change necessary
3. influential documents
3.1. Magna Carta
3.1.1. this document introduced the concepts of limited government and rule of law. it also introduce the right to a free trial
3.2. Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom
3.2.1. introduced the freedom of religion and opinion, both of those played a big part in the constitution and the bill of rights.
3.3. Virginia Declaration of Rights
3.3.1. this document turned out to be the model for the bill of rights, although it was originally for Virginia only.
3.4. The Articles of Confederation
3.4.1. set up a basis for the central government. This document ended up being repealed but it gave the constitution a template.
3.5. The declaration of independence
3.5.1. this document set up a list of basic rights that everyone should have. these rights were incorporated into the constitution
4. fundementel political principles
4.1. democracy
4.1.1. in a democracy the people rule,and get a say in what happens.
4.2. consent of the governed
4.2.1. the people are the source of the governments power, and every law should benefit them
4.3. limited goverment
4.3.1. the government is not all powerful, and can only do things that the people give it power to do.
4.4. Rule of law
4.4.1. the government is governed by the same laws as everybody else.
4.5. Representative government
4.5.1. the public elects office holders to do everything on their behalf