States operate from various powers, policies, and laws created within each state’s government, but the entire United States of America operates under a fundamental law. This law is the only law known to be the highest law of the land and it is the United States Constitution. The Constitution has proposed such remarkable power from documents and events that it holds such significance not only in the United States of America, but also other countries. The purpose of this paper is to create a chronological narrative delineating the significance of documents and events that has place an impact on the U.S. Constitution.
In 1215 a charter was signed by King John that placed limits over his royal power. King John the ruler of England wanted to have vast control over the riches of his land. Therefore, he wanted all to pay increasingly high taxes to support the military. This was a wealthy plan for King John, but not for the noblemen who had to pay them. This caused a disturbing concern that led the nobles to rebel against him, forcing him to sign a charter placing drastic limits on his royal powers. This charter became known as the Magna Carta, in which this document holds to its power today, contributing significance to creation of the U.S. Constitution (McCollugh, 2008). The impact that Magna Carta placed on the U.S Constitution was the declaration of rights over the power of any “king” or in the United States legislative bodies enforced by the Supreme Court. This gave James Monroe a founding father of the Constitution the idea to implement the concept of law as supreme into the draft (Sterner, 2010).
As King John betrayed the noblemen, the Pilgrims and some colonists were also deceived that the land they thought were contracted to them, were not. The Pilgrims during the 1600’s wanted to venture away from England to begin a life that was not controlled by the English king. In 1620 the Pilgrims decided to set sail away on a ship known as the Mayflower Compact. The Mayflower was to take the Pilgrims to a land of freedom, Virginia in which the journey leads them to Massachusetts instead. By contract, this land was not the correct place; therefore, the initial contract was invalid. In the place of the contract that was invalid colonist decided to create a contract for themselves while on the Mayflower that would allow them to establish their own authority (Mount, 2010). This contract became signified as the Mayflower Compact, a contract that highlighted the ideas of John Locke. In the Compact, the signers agreed to bind themselves into a society to preserve order and to help further their aims. They agreed to create offices, laws, and constitutions that will aid the common good. Finally, they agreed that such laws would be supreme and agreed to abide by them (Mount, 2010). This contract certainly placed an impact on the U.S Constitution and this is why the government established by people preserves the right to be protected by the government, this led...
