December 15th is the day we celebrate the Bill of Rights (1789). It would be a great thing for you to research with your kids how it came about. Many think this is the document that most makes The United States of America the great place it is.

Here is a tidbit. The language and the concept behind it came from a document that Scottish Presbyterians (the Protestants of the time) forced the King to sign or they wouldn’t let him back into the country. They were tired of being killed and persecuted for being Christians. Although the Magna Carta gets the credit for limiting monarchial power, it was this Treaty of Braedon that began the idea of a constitutional monarchy — and limited government’s power to persecute Christians for their faith. The philosophy behind it was the presbyterial theory of authority, outlined by John Knox at the coronation of James VI of Scotland (then 3 years old and later to become James I of England for whom the King James Bible is named.)
Other documents in this line were : Treaty of Uxbridge 1645, The Bill of Rights of 1689, and the Act of Settlement of 1701.

I am trying to rectify my lack of British History. Anyone with more knowledge is welcomed to pipe up. What is most striking to me, besides my own inexcusable ignorance, is how thoroughly United States government and republican liberty is rooted in Protestant, Biblical ideas.