Foundations of American Government

  • Jonathan Trumball Sr.

    Jonathan Trumbull, Sr. (October 12, 1710 – August 17, 1785) (the original spelling, "Trumble", was changed for an unknown reason) was one of the few Americans who served as governor in both a pre-Revolutionary colony and a post-Revolutionary state. He was the only colonial governor at the start of the Revolution to take up the rebel cause.
  • John Knox Witherspoon

    John Knox Witherspoon (February 5, 1723 – November 15, 1794) was a Scots Presbyterian minister and a signatory of the United States Declaration of Independence[1] as a representative of New Jersey. As president of the College of New Jersey (1768–94; now Princeton University), he trained many leaders of the early nation and was an active clergyman and the only college president to sign the Declaration.[2]
  • John Hancock

    John Hancock (January 23, 1737 [O.S. January 12, 1736] – October 8, 1793) was a merchant, smuggler, statesman, and prominent Patriot of the American Revolution. He served as president of the Second Continental Congress and was the first and third Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. He is remembered for his large and stylish signature on the United States Declaration of Independence, so much so that the term "John Hancock" has become, in the United States, a synonym for a signature.
  • Charles Carroll

    Charles Carroll (September 19, 1737 – November 14, 1832) He served as a delegate to the Continental Congress and Confederation Congress and later as first United States Senator for Maryland. He was the only Catholic and the longest-lived (and last surviving) signatory of the Declaration of Independence, dying at the age of 95, at his city mansion (largest and most expensive in town) in Baltimore's neighborhood of Jonestown on East Lombard and South Front Streets, by the Jones Falls.
  • John Jay

    John Jay (December 23, 1745 (December 12, 1745 OS) – May 17, 1829) was an American statesman, Patriot, diplomat, one of the Founding Fathers of the United States, signer of the Treaty of Paris, and first Chief Justice of the United States (1789–95).
  • Benjamin Rush

    Benjamin Rush (January 4, 1746 [O.S. December 24, 1745] – April 19, 1813) was a Founding Father of the United States. Rush was a civic leader in Philadelphia, where he was a physician, politician, social reformer, educator and humanitarian, as well as the founder of Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.
  • John Peter Muhlenberg

    John Peter Gabriel Muhlenberg (October 1, 1746 – October 1, 1807) was an American clergyman, Continental Army soldier during the American Revolutionary War, and political figure in the newly independent United States. A Lutheran minister, he served in the United States House of Representatives and United States Senate from Pennsylvania.
  • D.O.I

    The Declaration of Independence is the statement adopted by the Continental Congress meeting at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on July 4, 1776, which announced that the thirteen American colonies
  • E Pluribus Unum

    "One from many" is a phrase on the Seal of the United States until 1956 when it changed to "In God we Trust"
  • The US Constitution

    The United States Constitution is the supreme law of the United States of America. The Constitution, originally comprising seven articles, delineates the national frame of government.
  • Eminent Domain

    Eminent Domain is the power of a state or a national government to take private property for public use. However, it can be legislatively delegated by the state to municipalities, government subdivisions, or even to private persons or corporations, when they are authorized to exercise the functions of public character.
  • Fifth Amendment

    The Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution provides, "No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be d
  • B.O.R

    The first 10 amendments to the Constitution make up the Bill of Rights. The House approved 17 amendments. Of these 17, the Senate approved 12. Those 12 were sent to the states for approval in August of 1789. Of those 12, 10 were quickly approved (or, ratified). Virginia’s legislature became the last to ratify the amendments on December 15, 1791.
  • Alexis De Tocqueville - Five Principles

    Liberty: the state of being free within society from oppressive restrictions imposed by authority on one's way of life, behavior, or political views. Egalitarianism: doctrines maintain that all humans are equal in fundamental worth or social status. Individualism: a social theory favoring freedom of action for individuals over collective or state control. Populism: belief in the power of regular people. Laissez-Faire: a policy or attitude of letting things take their own course, without interfer
  • In God We Trust

    "In God We Trust" was adopted as the official motto of the United States in 1956 as an alternative or replacement to the unofficial motto of E pluribus unum, which was adopted when the Great Seal of the United States was created and adopted in 1782. Atheists have expressed objections to its use, and have sought to have the religious reference removed from the currency, claiming that it violates the First Amendment.