United States is a democracy. It is said that the United States is a democracy. What does that mean to you?

Democracy A system of government in which political control is exercised by all the citizens, directly or indirectly. Our country is a democratic republic.

Magna Carta A document written in 1215 that it set a precedent which changed England forever, by establishing that the King was not above the law. King John of England was required to follow the demands of the Magna Carta.

Parliament The supreme legislative (lawmaking) body in England Parliament made unjust laws and taxes on the colonies.

English Bill of Rights A document that declared that Englishmen had certain civil and political rights. It reduced the power of the monarch and strengthened the role of Parliament.

Mercantilism The economic policy of European nations during the era of discovery and colonization of the America’s, designed to make Europe rich and powerful.

Salutary neglect A hands-off policy of England toward its colonies during the first half of the 1700s The colonies got used to acting on their own during the time of salutary neglect.

Assembly A lawmaking group of People elected to represent the rights of those who elected them Assemblies were created by the colonists to create a form of representative government.

French and Indian War A conflict from 1754-1763 involving the French and their Native American allies against the British. This war was part of a broader European conflict know as the Seven Years’ War.

Albany Plan of Union A proposal by Benjamin Franklin to unite the colonies, that was approved by the Albany Congress in 1754, but was later rejected by colonial legislatures.

Treaty of Paris The agreement that ended the Seven Years’ War and gave Great Britain control of almost all of North American lands east of the Mississippi.

Stamp Tax An unpopular 1764 British law that placed new taxes on American colonists.

Grievances Formal complaints made usually in the from of a petition on the basis of something that somebody feels is unfair