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The first portion of the Free Exercise Clause

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The Free Exercise Clause is a part of the First Amendment that states that anyone can practice whatever religion they want without persecution from the government.

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Pictured above is part of the first page of the Bill of Rights

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The Bill of Rights was the first 10 amendments to the Constitution, and it guaranteed personal rights such as the freedom of worship, speech, and assembly to all citizens of the United States.

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Poll taxes are taxes that every citizen must pay in order to vote. Many southern states placed poll taxes into effect in order to keep African Americans from voting, since they had very limited amounts of money and could not afford it.

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The Freedmen's Bureau was a government agency that helped newly freed slaves get back on their feet and begin to live lives of their own independently and successfully. This agency also helped provide jobs, education, and shelter for war refugees as well.

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An image symbolizing the first sign of acknowledgement and the first step towards equality towards colored people by the United States.

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The Reconstruction was the era that followed the Civil War, and it consisted of successfully rebuilding and reintegrating the southern states into the United States once more. Some of the issues dealt with during this era are how former slaves and Confederate soldiers were to be treated by society

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The Quakers were a religious group situated mainly in Pennsylvania, and are most notable for their strongly abolitionist members.

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The symbol of the Abolitionists, showing that they thought of colored people as equals and sympathized with them deeply. 

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The Abolitionists were a group of people who strongly opposed slavery and tried to help abolish it as soon as possible in any way they could.

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A Protestant group meeting in 1819 in regards to the Second Great Awakening

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The second spread of religion that occured in the United States. This led to reforms in topics such as slavery, women's rights, and temperance, or the abstinence from alcohol.

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The Mormons are a group of Christians who were harassed for their beliefs and forced to relocate to areas around the state of Utah. They were led by Joseph Smith and follow the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

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The document above demonstrates Andrew Jackson's opposition to the Nullification Crisis in 1832, caused by South Carolina.

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The Nullification Theory says that states are allowed to consider a federal law null or void (basically meaning they are allowed to not have that law in effect) if they deem it to be unconstitutional.

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This doctrine forbade colonization of lands in the Americas.

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The Monroe Doctrine, written in 1823, strongly stated that further colonization of any kind would not be tolerated in the Americas, and would be faced with harsh backlash from the country.

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The Judicial Branch has the power to deem any law passed by the Legislative and/or Executive Branch unconstitutional.

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Established through the Marbury v. Madison case, this doctrine allows the Judicial Branch to examine and declare that a certain act carried out by the Legislative or Executive branch is in violation of the Constitution. If laws are deemed to be unconstitutional, this doctrine also has the power to strike down these laws.

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State and National governments work together to create a strong cohesive government that allows for individuality and freedom as well.

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Federalism was created in order to preserve the individual power and freedom of each state while also keeping the overall (federal) government intact and strong. It provided an equal balance between the two to keep America a cohesive and well-functioning country while also giving its citizens freedom and liberty.

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The Senate and House of Representatives were both formed as a compromise to larger and smaller states that both wanted equal representation. 

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The Great Compromise was formed because of a dispute between larger and smaller states. Larger states argued for more representatives, since they housed a larger population of the country. However, smaller states wanted equal representation so that their opinions would not be overshadowed when coming up with solutions/laws. Because of this, Congress was split into two separate houses. The House of Representatives had representatives based on population size, and the Senate has equal representation from each state, regardless of the population sizes.

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An image of the original Articles of Confederation

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The Articles of Confederation provided the first framework to the American government and was written in 1777 and ratified in 1781 after much debate, finally uniting all 13 colonies under one form of government. However, it was very weak and not centralized, and eventually ended up failing.

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Pictured above is John Locke, the creator of the idea of Natural Rights

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The term "Natural Rights" was first coined by John Locke when he presented his beliefs for a government during the Enlightenment period. Natural Rights guaranteed that all people (white males) were born with the right to life, liberty, and property. This was a huge step up in the way of thinking because back then, everyone was controlled by a monarch and most of the population consisted of peasants who owned no land

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Pictured above is the first part of the Declaration of Independence drafted in 1776 by Thomas Jefferson.

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The Declaration of Independence was a document drafted to officially declare independence from the British on July 4th, 1776. It was heavily inspired by ideas from the Enlightenment, and was written by Thomas Jefferson.

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This image demonstrates the equal hold each branch of the United States government has on the country so no certain group can take over.

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When a government is separated into different branches that are independent of one another, in order to prevent sole control by one person in a government. This is also known as using a system of checks and balances. The United States is a good example of this, with the government split into three separate branches, the legislative, judicial, and executive, so as to prevent one person from taking control of the entire nation.

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A group of colonial citizens listening to a preacher during the First Great Awakening.

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During the First Great Awakening, many colonists began to reconnect to their religious roots and enter a period of devotion to God. This led them to rethink some of their ideals and doubt the sovereignty of the monarch in England, and led to distrust between the colonies and England.

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People influenced by the Enlightenment came together to form democracies, where every citizen was granted the ability to have a say in the law.

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An era of learning and questioning common beliefs pertaining to science, reason, knowledge, and government that eventually led to several reformed governments and countries. Ex: The ideas of the Enlightenment had a huge impact on the basis of the American Revolution and new government.