Foundations of American Government

Major Concepts to Understand include:

• Definitions (or characteristics) of a State

• Origins of a State

• Purpose of Government

• Minority Rights in a Democracy

Students should be able to identify and/or define the following terms
which have contributed to the development of the American Government:

• Magna Carta

• Petition of Right

• English Bill of Rights

• Charter

• Bicameral & Unicameral

• Federalist & Anti-Federalist

The ideas of the following philosophers also contributed
to the development of the American Government:

Thomas Hobbes	John Locke	Baron de Montesquieu	Jean Jacques Rousseau

Major Events contributing to the early
development of the United States Government included:

• Albany Plan of Union

• Declaration of Independence

• Articles of Confederation

• Constitutional Convention

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