The British Constitution

The British Constitution in the eighteenth century was not a single written document, but rather a mixture of English laws, customs, and precedents, many of relatively recent vintage. In particular, the Glorious Revolution of 1688 and subsequent Revolution Settlement established the constitution's fundamental character: the rule of law and the sovereignty of the people over the monarch through their elected representatives. But determining which body of representatives, Parliament in London or the colonial assemblies, would have the last word in governing its peoples became the basis of the dispute that we call the American Revolution.