American Politics and the US Constitution - C963 WGU Questions and Answers(A+ Solution guide)

natrual rights - Life, Liberty, and Property John Locke - 17th century English philosopher who opposed the Divine Right of Kings and who asserted that people have a natural right to life, liberty, and property. State of Nature - Hypothetical condition assumed to exist in the absence of government where human beings live in "complete" freedom and general equality. Due Process - involves the government's obligation to treat all citizens fairly. Such a requirement lessens the extent to which government power can be exercised over the individual, making the power differential between the two more fair, and ensuring a general sense of political equality Social Contract - A voluntary agreement among individuals to secure their rights and welfare by creating a government and abiding by its rules. Thomas Hobbes () - One of the first individuals to contribute to the idea of the social contract was a pre-Enlightenment English philosopher Leviathan (1651): Thomas Hobbes - Hobbes argues that society is not something natural and immutable, but rather it is something created by us. Labor Movement - the formation of labor unions, during the 1880's, for the workers to receive better treatment by Constitution - A document which spells out the principles by which a government runs and the fundamental laws that govern a society Bill of Rights - The first ten amendments to the ConstitutionDeclaration of Independence - the document recording the proclamation of the second Continental Congress (4 July 1776) asserting the independence of the colonies from Great Britain Thomas Jefferson - Wrote the Declaration of Independence