For hundreds of years the struggle for the rights of the people over tyranny raged on in the forms of wars, rebellions, and political back stabbing. The common law of the people was constantly being trampled on by the European kings and the people inevitably revolted.
A custom in a particular city or region a lot of times would become an expectation which eventually became known as common laws. Local courts used these common laws to govern its local people. Now from time to time through out history The European kings would disregard these laws on a whim or sometimes in an act of out right tyranny. The people always won and brought about such documents as the Magna Carta (compliment of King John) and the Petition of Rights (compliments of King Charles I). Other kings like James tried to undermine Parliament by trying to pack it with people that were loyal to him. This resulted in No Taxation without Representation.
America after it broke from England's rule (because Parliament was doing the same thing to America that The various kings of England did to its people) Our founding Fathers tried to set up a limited government based on their Experiences with kings. This resulted in The Articles of Confederation. The Articles of Confederation however was flawed in the fact that it made each of the 13 colonies separate ruling entities with no centralized governing point. A lot of times the colonies could agree on anything and didn't respect each others laws or courts. On top of all that the whole was weak because there was no single organized military. Each of the 13 colonies had their own militias because as a whole they were weak and unorganized. In order to rectify the situation the Constitution was written and later the bill of rights which we use to this day over 200 years since it was created. Most other forms of government that aren't based on the idea of limited government usually fail in less than half that time.