Bell Ringer Before the Magna Carta, who do you think was considered above the law? A) the Farmer B) the King and the Queen C) the Teacher and the Farmer.

Roots of American Democracy

Ch. 2

Ch. 2 Section 1Our English Heritage

Key Terms

Monarch Legislature

Parliament

Precedent Common Law Colony

Charter Compact

Ch. 2 Section 1

•For centuries before the first English people arrived in America, England was ruled by a monarch-a king or queen.

•King John, who inherited the throne in 1199, treated the nobles harshly. They rebelled in 1215 and forced the king to sign an agreement called the Magna Carta.

Magna Carta

This document protected the nobles’ privileges and upheld their authority. It also granted certain rights to all landholders rights that eventually came to apply to all English people.

The Magna Carta was a contract that limited the power of the monarch by guaranteeing that no one would be above the law, not even the king or queen.

Magna Carta

• Henry III, the king who followed John, met fairly regularly with a group of nobles and church officials, who advised the king and helped govern the realm.

• By the late 1300’s the group had developed into a legislature- a lawmaking body known as Parliament.

• (Pre- A.P. Glorious Revolution p. 29)

English Bill of Rights

1689 This document stated that the

monarch could not suspend Parliament’s laws; the monarch also could not create special courts, impose taxes, or raise an army with out Parliament’s consent.

Jamestown, Virginia

• The first permanent English settlement in North America.

• Founded in 1607 by the Virginia Company, a group of merchants from London.

• Governed by a governor and council.• 1619, House of Burgesses (Pre A.P.)

Mayflower Compact

Pilgrims Established a tradition of direct

democracy that you can still see in New England today.

Written plan of government, stated that the government would make “just and equal laws… for the general good of the colony.”

41 signed the compact A compact is an agreement, or contract,

among a group of people.

Ch. 2 Section 2Birth of a Democratic Nation

Key Terms

Mercantilism

Boycott

Repeal delegate

1st Continental Congress and2nd Continental Congress

1st Continental Congress Lasted seven weeks Demanded that the rights of the

colonist be restored.

2nd Continental Congress May, 1775 Debated on going to war with Great

Britain Thomas Paine, Common Sense

Ch.2 Section 3The Nation’s

First Governments

Page 39-42 Popcorn/Chunk

ing

Constitution

Bicameral Confederation

Articles of Confederation

1777, the first constitution of the United States

Established a system for cooperation, or ‘league of friendship,’ among independent states.”

Set up a one-house legislature in each state and one vote.

Weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation

Lack of power and money (taxes, regulate trade, enforce laws)

Lack of central power

(no court system, no group or single leader)

Rules to rigid

The United States was able to overcome the weaknesses and win the war for independence.

Peace agreement with Great Britain, called the Treaty of Paris, was signed in 1783.

Quiz Tomorrow

• Study key terms and main points of Chapter 2.• 30 pts possible