Clearly, the American Framers did not create the Constitution in a vacuum.
Several critically important documents that preceded the drafting of the
Constitution broke important ground by legitimizing important notions about the
source of government power, individual rights, government accountability, and
the structure of government. The following table summarizes these documents and
the ideas to which they gave life and legitimacy.
| Table 1-1: A Comparison of Key Documents
in the History of Constitutional Government |
|
Document |
Source of Government Power |
Individual Rights |
Accountability of Government Leaders |
Structure of Government |
|
Magna Carta
|
Divine decree; the Catholic Church and the Church of England
|
Limited to those "granted" by signers of the document
|
Rulers accountable to God; no popular recourse against rulers
|
Not specified in the document; monarchy with lords and barons
|
|
English Bill of Rights
|
The people of England (after the Revolution of 1688)
|
People guaranteed the right to petition the king and to be tried by a jury when
accused; excessive bail and fines and cruel and unusual punishments were
forbidden
|
Free election of members of Parliament
|
Mixed system with a limited monarch and an elected Parliament
|
|
Mayflower Compact |
Acting under the authority of God and the
king, the signers "solemnly and mutually, in the Presence of God and one
another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil Body Politick.
" |
Not explicitly stated, but implied that
individuals had at least some right to combine themselves together in
political unions and to order their affairs in accordance with their own
desires and interests |
Not specified |
The signers mutually agreed to "enact,
constitute, and frame, such just and equal Laws, Ordinances, Acts,
Constitutions, and Officers, from time to time, as shall be thought most
meet and convenient for the general Good of the Colony." The colony,
however, clearly remained subservient to the "dread Sovereign Lord King
James." |
|
Declaration of Independence |
The people are the source of governmental
power. To secure the rights and liberties of the people, "Governments are
instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the
governed. " |
"We hold these truths to be self-evident,
that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with
certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the
pursuit of Happiness." |
Perhaps the first political document to
legitimize the right of the people to replace an unjust government. ". . .
whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the
Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new
Government. " |
Unspecified; however, maintains the rights
of the people to establish a government, "laying its foundation on such
principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem
most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness" |
|
Articles of Confederation |
The states that became members of the
Confederation |
The rights guaranteed by each state to her
citizens; additionally, the rights of citizens to travel freely between
states was guaranteed |
Any state could object to a decision made
by the Confederal Congress and essentially nullify the decision. |
A confederal system that established "a
firm league of friendship" between the states; a Confederal Congress was
established and vested with legislative, executive and judicial powers |
|
Iroquois Confederation |
The five tribes of the Confederacy |
Rights of emigration, inheritance and
adoption; significant, detailed rights of participation in decisions
impacting the people |
A decision about a "specially important
matter or a great emergency," the Lords of the Confederacy were required to
"submit the matter to the decision of their people." |
An intricate confederation of five great
nations
|
|
United States Constitution |
"We the people . . ." Notably, the
Preamble does not begin with "We the states." The people, not any other
entity or authority, are the source of governmental power under the
Constitution. |
Extensive rights guaranteed to individuals
both in the document itself as well as in the Bill of Rights (the first ten
amendments to the document) |
Popular and indirect election of
government leaders through regular, frequent elections; impeachment
provisions for corrupt officials |
Federal system with three distinct
branches at the national level with checks and balances |
