The Origins of American Government Today, the power of American Government rests with the people of the United States. However, the American government did not emerge fully formed into the democracy we know today. The origins of American government can be traced as far back as 1215 and the Magna Carta. Many important influential documents have influenced the making of the US Constitution. Three such documents include the English Bill of Rights, Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s The Social Contract, and John Locke’s Two Treatises of Government. First, one important document that influenced the Constitution was English Bill of Rights, passed by Parliament in 1688. The document set down the idea of limited government. Also, according to an excerpt in
