Foundations of
Government
SSCG1-5
SSCG1A
O https://www.docsoffreedom.org/readings/t
he-role-of-government
O Title your paper SSCG1a Key Ideas of limited
government.
O Read as a class the information on the
website above.
Initial strides towards limited government: (copy what
is in purple)
The Magna Carta embodied the principle that the
king’s powers were limited and subject to English law.
The Petition of Right , (citing the Magna Carta),
reminded the king that it was the law, not a king, that
protected the rights of Englishmen.
For most of human history it was accepted that the
political legitimacy of a king was derived from God, not
from man, and that both law and liberty were subject to
God’s will.
The English Bill of Rights (1689) contained strict limits
to the power of the monarchy and identified certain
inalienable political and civil liberties enjoyed by all
Englishmen.
Key ideas of limited government and the rule of
law found in the Magna Carta
SSCG2 The student will analyze the natural rights philosophy and the nature of government
expressed in the Declaration of Independence.
D a. Compare and contrast the Declaration of
Independence and the Social Contract Theory.
D
O
https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/magna-carta-muse-andmentor/magna-carta-and-the-us-constitution.html
Read the first three paragraphs
O What is the takeaway? For example, what essential information
should you glean from this reading?
O
What the Magna Carta means
to us, as U.S. citizens
O Most of the state constitutions included declarations
of rights intended to guarantee individual citizens a
list of protections and immunities from the state
government. The United States also adopted the Bill
of Rights, in part, due to the Magna Carta.
O Both the state declarations of rights and the United
States Bill of Rights incorporated several guarantees
that resulted from from rights protected by Magna
Carta. Among these are freedom from unlawful
searches and seizures, a right to a speedy trial, a
right to a jury trial in both a criminal and a civil case,
and protection from loss of life, liberty, or property
without due process of law.
Name 3 ways the Magna Carta
affected the U.S. Constitution.
O 1)
O 2)
O 3)
Handout on all three
O Read the handout as a class.
O Tape this in your notebook.
SSCG2 The student will analyze the natural rights philosophy and the nature of government
expressed in the Declaration of Independence.
D
D b. Evaluate the Declaration of Independence as
a persuasive argument.
Turn to page 771 to read through
as a class. We need a student to stop
us every time there is a vocabulary word!
Parts of the Constitution
(not on quiz 2)
1.
2.
3.
4.
Preamble – legal and philosophical
justification for the revolution and colonial
independence
Declaration of rights - governments can’t
trample a man’s rights and if it does, it
can be over thrown.
List of grievances – outlines the how King
George had violated the colonists rights
Statement of independence
How did Thomas Paine help to convince
colonists to separate from the King?
Wrote Common Sense
O Argues that the colonists should free
themselves from British Rule and
establish an independent government
based on the ideas of the Enlightenment
O Written in a simple style so ALL colonists
could understand it
O 500,000 copies sold
O Colonists support independence as a
result