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Freeman (Thirteen Colonies)
During the American colonial period a freeman was a person who was not a slave. The term originated in 12th-century Europe. In the Massachusetts Bay Colony, a man had to be a member of the Church to be a freeman; in neighboring Plymouth Colony a man did not need to be a member of the Church, but he had to be elected to this privilege by the General Court. Being a freeman carried with it the right to vote, and in Plymouth only freemen could vote by 1632. ''Black's Law Dictionary'' (9th edition) defines freeman as follows: 1. A person who possesses and enjoys all the civil and political rights belonging to the people under a free government. 2. A person who is not a slave. 3. Hist. A member of a municipal corporation (a city or a borough) who possesses full civic rights, esp. the right to vote. 4. Hist. A freeholder. Cf. villein. 5. Hist. An allodial landowner. Cf. vassal. - also written free man. "Freedom" was earned after an allotted time, or after the person demanding "paym ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
American Colonial Period
The Thirteen Colonies were the British colonization of the Americas, British colonies on the East Coast of the United States, Atlantic coast of North America which broke away from the British Crown in the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), and joined to form the United States of America. The Thirteen Colonies in their traditional groupings were: the New England Colonies (Province of New Hampshire, New Hampshire, Province of Massachusetts Bay, Massachusetts, Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Rhode Island, and Connecticut Colony, Connecticut); the Middle Colonies (Province of New York, New York, Province of New Jersey, New Jersey, Province of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania, and Delaware Colony, Delaware); and the Southern Colonies (Province of Maryland, Maryland, Colony of Virginia, Virginia, Province of North Carolina, North Carolina, Province of South Carolina, South Carolina, and Province of Georgia, Georgia). These colonies were part of British America, w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Upper House
An upper house is one of two Legislative chamber, chambers of a bicameralism, bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house. The house formally designated as the upper house is usually smaller and often has more restricted power than the lower house. A legislature composed of only one house (and which therefore has neither an upper house nor a lower house) is described as unicameralism, unicameral. History While the Roman Senate, senate of the ancient roman kingdom 755 BC was the first assembly of aristocrats counseling the king, the first upper house of a bicameral legislature was the medieval House of Lords consisting of the archbishops, bishops, abbots and nobility, which emerged during the reign of King Edward III around 1341 when the Parliament clearly separated into two distinct Debating chamber, chambers, the House of Commons of England, House of Commons, consisting of the shire and borough representatives, and the House of Lords. 1808 Spain adopted ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Broadside (printing)
A broadside is a large sheet of paper printed on one side only. Historically in Europe, broadsides were used as posters, announcing events or proclamations, giving political views, commentary in the form of broadside ballad, ballads, or simply advertisements. In Japan, Chromoxylography, chromoxylographic broadsheets featuring artistic prints were common. Description and history The historical type of broadsides, designed to be plastered onto walls as a form of street literature, were ephemera, i.e., temporary documents created for a specific purpose and intended to be thrown away. They were one of the most common forms of printed material between the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries. They were often advertisements, but could also be used for news information or proclamations. Broadsides were a very popular medium for printing topical ballads starting in the 16th century. Broadside (music), Broadside ballads were usually printed on the cheapest type of paper available. Initiall ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stephen Daye
Stephen Daye (c.1594 – December 22, 1668) emigrated from England to the English colony of Massachusetts Bay and, likely with the help of his son Matthew, became the first printer in colonial America, under indenture to Elizabeth Glover, owner of the first printing press in the British Colonies. At this press was printed the '' Bay Psalm Book'' in 1640, the first book printed in the present day United States. Life Daye was born in Sutton, Surrey London, and emigrated on June 7, 1638, to Cambridge, Massachusetts, on board the ''John of London'' with Joseph and Elizabeth Glover and their children and three household servants, and his wife Rebecca (Wright) Bordman (Bordman – from a previous marriage) (died October 17, 1658), sons Stephen Jr. (died December 1, 1639), Matthew (died May 10, 1649), and stepson William Bordman (died March 25, 1685). In 1638 he is recorded as being a locksmith by profession who was under financial contract to Reverend Joseph or Joss Glover to repa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oath Of A Freeman
The “Oath of a Freeman” was a loyalty pledge required of all new members of the Massachusetts Bay Colony in the 1630s. Printed as a Broadside (printing), broadside by Stephen Daye in 1639, it is the first document from a printing press known to have been produced in the present day United States. No copies are known to exist, but the text is known from a handwritten copy and two books, ''New-England’s Jonas Cast Up at London'' (1647) and Massachusetts’s ''General Lawes and Libertyes'' (1648). A supposed original printing of the document surfaced in 1985, but it was later revealed to be the work of forger Mark Hofmann. Original printing The “Oath” was a vow of obedience to the company's government and a promise not to conspire against it. Previous examples of oaths in England pledged loyalty to the Crown. The absence of references to the King made the “Oath” a uniquely American document. The earliest known version of the “Oath” was handwritten by Massachusett ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Legally Incompetent
In United States and Canadian law, competence concerns the mental capacity of an individual to participate in legal proceedings or transactions, and the mental condition a person must have to be responsible for his or her decisions or acts. Competence is an attribute that is decision-specific. Depending on various factors which typically revolve around mental function integrity, an individual may or may not be competent to make a particular medical decision, a particular contractual agreement, to execute an effective deed to real property, or to execute a will having certain terms. Depending on the state, a guardian or conservator may be appointed by a court for a person who satisfies the state's tests for general incompetence, and the guardian or conservator exercises the incompetent's rights for the incompetent. Defendants who do not possess sufficient "competence" are usually excluded from criminal prosecution, while witnesses found not to possess requisite competence canno ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Inheritance
Inheritance is the practice of receiving private property, titles, debts, entitlements, privileges, rights, and obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ among societies and have changed over time. Officially bequeathing private property and/or debts can be performed by a testator via will, as attested by a notary or by other lawful means. Terminology In law, an "heir" ( heiress) is a person who is entitled to receive a share of property from a decedent (a person who died), subject to the rules of inheritance in the jurisdiction where the decedent was a citizen, or where the decedent died or owned property at the time of death. The inheritance may be either under the terms of a will or by intestate laws if the deceased had no will. However, the will must comply with the laws of the jurisdiction at the time it was created or it will be declared invalid (for example, some states do not recognise handwritten wills as valid, or only in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Land Owner
Property is a system of rights that gives people legal control of valuable things, and also refers to the valuable things themselves. Depending on the nature of the property, an owner of property may have the right to consume, alter, share, rent, sell, exchange, transfer, give away, or destroy it, or to exclude others from doing these things, as well as to perhaps abandon it; whereas regardless of the nature of the property, the owner thereof has the right to properly use it under the granted property rights. In economics and political economy, there are three broad forms of property: private property, public property, and collective property (or ''cooperative propert''y). Property may be jointly owned by more than one party equally or unequally, or according to simple or complex agreements; to distinguish ownership and easement from rent, there is an expectation that each party's will with regard to the property be clearly defined and unconditional.. The parties may expect t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Probation
Probation in criminal law is a period of supervision over an offence (law), offender, ordered by the court often in lieu of incarceration. In some jurisdictions, the term ''probation'' applies only to community sentences (alternatives to incarceration), such as suspended sentences. In others, probation also includes supervision of those conditionally released from prison on parole. An offender on probation is ordered to follow certain conditions set forth by the court, often under the supervision of a probation officer. During the period of probation, an offender faces the threat of being incarcerated if found breaking the rules set by the court or probation officer. Offenders are ordinarily required to maintain law-abiding behavior, and may be ordered to refrain from possession of firearms, remain employed, participate in an educational program, abide by a curfew, live at a directed place, obey the orders of the probation officer, or not leave the jurisdiction. The probationer ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Warning Out Of Town
Warning out of town was a widespread method in the United States for established New England communities to pressure or coerce "outsiders" to settle elsewhere. It consisted of a notice ordered by the Board of Selectmen of a town, and served by the constable upon any newcomer who might become a town charge. When persons were warned out of a town, they were not necessarily forcibly removed. The first warning out in Plymouth Colony was recorded on June 6, 1654, in the village of Rehoboth. Robert Titus was called into town court and told to take his family out of Plymouth Colony for allowing "persons of evil fame" to live in his home. The practice was common throughout the early Colonial Period, and died out in the early 19th century. In Vermont, for example, the law was changed to disallow "warning out" in 1817. Legal foundation The right of a municipality to "warn out" one of its inhabitants was based on the theory that a city has a common law duty to care for its inhabitants when ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Political Freedom
Political freedom (also known as political autonomy or political agency) is a central concept in history and political thought and one of the most important features of democratic societies.Hannah Arendt, "What is Freedom?", ''Between Past and Future: Eight Exercises in Political Thought'', (New York: Penguin, 1993). Political freedom has been described as freedom from oppression or coercion, the absence of disabling conditions for an individual and the fulfillment of enabling conditions, or the absence of life conditions of compulsion in society, such as economic compulsion. Although political freedom is often interpreted negatively as the freedom from unreasonable external constraints on action, it can also refer to the positive exercise of rights, capacities and possibilities for action and the exercise of social or group rights. The concept can also include freedom from internal constraints on political action or speech such as social conformity, consistency, or inauthen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lower House
A lower house is the lower chamber of a bicameral legislature, where the other chamber is the upper house. Although styled as "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has come to wield more power or otherwise exert significant political influence. Common attributes In comparison with the upper house, lower houses frequently display certain characteristics (though they vary by jurisdiction). Powers In a parliamentary system, the lower house: * In the modern era, has much more power, usually due to restrictions on the upper house. ** Exceptions to this are Australia, Italy, and Romania, where the upper and lower houses have similar power. * Is able to override the upper house in some ways. * Can vote a motion of no confidence against the government, as well as vote for or against any proposed candidate for head of government at the beginning of the parliamentary term. In a presidential system, the lower house: * Generally has less power th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
