Answer:
Engel v. Vitale
LAW CASE
WRITTEN BY: The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Engel v. Vitale, case in which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on June 25, 1962, that voluntary prayer in public schools violated the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment prohibition of a state establishment of religion.
New York state’s Board of Regents wrote and authorized a voluntary nondenominational prayer that could be recited by students at the beginning of each school day. In 1958–59 a group of parents that included Steven Engel in Hyde Park, New York, objected to the prayer, which read, “Almighty God, we acknowledge our dependence upon Thee, and we beg Thy blessings upon us, our parents, our teachers, and our country,” and sued the school board president, William Vitale. The prayer, which proponents argued was constitutional because it was voluntary and promoted the free exercise of religion (also protected in the First Amendment), was upheld by New York’s courts, prompting the petitioners to file a successful appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. Engel et al. were supported by the American Civil Liberties Union, and briefs were filed on their behalf by the American Ethical Union and the American Jewish Committee, while the governments of some 20 states called on the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold the prayer.
Oral arguments took place on April 3, 1962. The Supreme Court’s ruling was released on June 25 and found New York’s law unconstitutional by a margin of 6–1 (two justices did not participate in the decision). Hugo L. Black wrote the Supreme Court’s opinion, in which the majority argued “that, by using its public school system to encourage recitation of the Regents’ prayer, the State of New York has adopted a practice wholly inconsistent with the Establishment Clause.” The lone dissent came from Potter Stewart, who argued that the majority had “misapplied a great constitutional principle” and could not understand “how an ‘official religion’ is established by letting those who want to say a prayer say it. On the contrary, I think to deny the wish of these school children to join in reciting this prayer is to deny them the opportunity of sharing in the spiritual heritage of our Nation.” The decision, the first in which the Supreme Court had ruled unconstitutional public school sponsorship of religion, was unpopular with a broad segment of the American public.
Britain and France held the most territories in Africa.
Answer:
In 1215, King John of England was forced to sign the Magna Carta stating that the king was not above the law of the land and protecting the rights of the people. Today, the Magna Carta is considered one of the most important documents in the history of democracy. Magna Carta was sealed by King John on 15 June 1215. The document was drawn up after his barons rebelled and forced him to agree to limitations on his power because he had demanded heavy taxes to fund his unsuccessful wars in France.
The correct answer to this open question is the following.
You did not include the passage, so we have no reference at all. However, we can comment on the following.
The Enlightenment ideas that are reflected in important documents such as the Declaration of Independence are "natural rights," "equality," "popular sovereignty," and "the separation of powers."
Brilliant thinkers and philosophers such as Baron de Montesquiou, Jean-Jaques Rosseau, Voltaire, Thomas Hobbes, and John Locke, influenced the founding fathers of the United States with their novel ideas about government, society, and citizenship.
