CORNERSTONES  OF  AMERICAN  DEMOCRACY

1215   MAGNA CARTA:  The Magna Carta, secured from John, King of England,  was the foundation for fundamental English rights including trial by jury, equality before the law, and freedom from arbitrary arrest.  These profoundly important individual privileges have a direct legacy in our own Bill of Rights.

1620  THE MAYFLOWER COMPACT:  The Pilgrims were seeking a home where they would be free to live in accordance with their Puritan religious beliefs.  Before landing, the 41 men in the party signed an agreement known as the Mayflower Compact.   The Compact, founded in Puritan ideas of church government, was a limited step toward constitutional government. At first, the signers of the Compact met as a General Court, which chose a government and council.  By the mid-1600s, the General Court was made up of representatives from the colony's towns.

1776  THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE: On July 4, 1776, the Second Continental Congress adopted what is perhaps the most well known document in American history: the Declaration of Independence.  In addition to listing the colonists' grievances against the British Crown, the Declaration expressed a basic philosophy of self-government.  The Revolutionary War ended with the defeat of the British at Yorktown, VA, on October 17^th, 1781.

1783  THE TREATY OF PARIS:  The Treaty of Paris between the United States and Great Britain was signed in September 1783 and ratified in January 1784.

1787  THE CONSTITUTION:  The new nation's first attempt at self-government was under the Articles of Confederation and was not successful.  The loose confederation of states, each retained its sovereignty. The Congress could make laws, but it could not tax or regulate commerce; it had no means of enforcing the laws it created.  In September 1787, the leaders signed the Constitution of the United States.  The Constitution established a federal system of government with enumerated rights and delegated powers, reserving other rights and powers for the people and for the states.

1791  THE BILL OF RIGHTS:  Many debating ratification of the new Constitution felt that the document did not sufficiently and explicitly protect individual rights so amendments were added to the Constitution in 1791 and they became known as the Bill of Rights; they guaranteed freedom of religion, speech, press, and assembly and placed other restrictions on the federal government's power over individuals and the states.

1863  THE EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION:"... all persons held as slaves within any State or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free;... "   THE GETTYSBURG ADDRESS:  At, dedication ceremony for a national cemetery for Civil War dead in Gettysburg,  President Lincoln gave his Gettysburg Address.  The speech asked for a rededication to the principles of liberty and equality articulated in the Declaration, The Constitution, and the Bill of Rights.

1920    WOMEN WIN RIGHT TO VOTE:  The long struggle for the right for women to vote, the primary goal of early American feminists was finally won in 1920.  Amendment XIX to the Constitution provides that "The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex. Congress shall have the power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation." AMENDMENT XIX was Ratified August 18, 1920.

1969    GAY RIGHTS MOVEMENT:  In June 1969, drag queens in New York's Stonewall bar fought back against police harassment, and their action emboldened homosexuals around the world.  It was the beginning of the gay right movement.  To date, there are NO FEDERAL LAWS AGAINST DISCRIMINATION BASED ON SEXUAL ORIENTATION.

1990  AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT was finally passed.

"Throughout the course of American history, the principles expressed in these documents have served the nation well.  They have survived two world wars and the transformation from a rural to an increasingly urban population.  The freedoms that they grant have been expanded to include women, African Americans, and other minorities.  And through all of the conflicts and changes, these cornerstones of American democracy have endured."

The above was extracted from the CORNERSTONES OF AMERICAN DEMOCRACY, National Archives, Washington, DC. where originals of the above documents are on display.