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Government ; Its Origin, Growth, and Form in the United States
Government Its Origin Growth and Form in the United States Author:Robert Lansing Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: PART SECOND. RISE OF AMERICAN INSTITUTIONS. CHAPTER I. SOURCE OF AMERICAN INSTITUTIONS. The Anglo-Saxons.—The principle of civil liberty, which is the im... more »portant element in our system of government, was already strongly developed among the Angles and Saxons when they conquered England in the fifth century. They were believers in the rights and powers of the individual. They elected their own chiefs and had a voice in the government of their clans. Under their rule the people in their various councils made laws and treaties, levied some taxes, raised land and sea forces, and exercised many other legislative and also judicial powers. These powers, although modified by changing conditions, became firmly settled under the successive Saxon kings in the form in which they are historically known as the " Laws of Edward the Confessor." Effect of Norman Conquest.—The Norman conquest wrought a change. The conquerors did not possess the Saxon ideas of liberty and equality. To them the king was the state and source of all law, and in the confusion of this change in ideas of government there followed confiscation of property, oppressive laws, and the practical enslavement of the conquered people through the introduction of Feudalism. These conditions continued during the reigns of "The Conqueror" and "William II. But Henry L, fearing the effect of popular discontent, promised by a " Charter of Liberties," granted in 1101, to restore in part the " Laws of Edward the Confessor." This Charter is important as the first limitation upon the powers of the crown. Magna Charta.—A century later (June 15, 1215) the great instrument of English liberty, known as Magna Charta, was wrung from King John by the people and nobles, who had revolted against his despotic rule. Oi' the sixty-three p...« less