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European documents: The MAGNA CARTA, written in 1215, established the kernel of limited government, or the belief that the monarch's rule was not absolute. The ENGLISH BILL OF RIGHTS (1688) guaranteed free elections and rights for citizens accused of crime. Although KING GEORGE III still had some real power in 1776, Britain was already well along on the path of democracy by that time. Colonial documents: The Articles of Confederation was the first written constitution of the United States. Stemming from wartime urgency, its progress was slowed by fears of central authority and extensive land claims by states before was it was ratified on March 1, 1781. The Declaration of Independence is the statement adopted by the Second Continental Congress meeting at the Pennsylvania State House (Independence Hall) in Philadelphia on July 4, 1776, which announced that the thirteen American colonies,[2] then at war with the Kingdom of Great Britain, regarded themselves as thirteen newly independent sovereign states and no longer under British rule. The Constitution of the United States is considered to be the foremost piece of legislature with regard to the implementation and authorization of legality and lawfulness within the United States; upon its creation, the Constitution of the United States not only outlined a framework for a legislative system, but also an identifiable statute reflecting the legal guidelines imposed with regard to the relationship between the United States Federal Government and its collective citizens.
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