Chapter 2 Sections 1 and 2

Unit 1: Foundations of American Democracy

Chapter 2 - Roots of American Democracy

Chapter 2, Section 1Our English Heritage (pages 28–32)

Did You Know? The Pilgrims had promised to settle withinthe area granted to the Virginia Company, but rough weather and

navigation errors took them to New England instead. Pilgrim leadersworried about their legal position because they did not have

the authority to settle in this area. They signed the MayflowerCompact to solve this problem as well as to set up a government.

Influences from England’s Early Government (pages 28–30)

• The English brought with them a history of limited and representative government.

• England was ruled by a monarch—a king or queen, but nobles held much power.

The nobles forced King John to sign the Magna Carta. This document upheld rights of landowners including equal treatment under the law and trial by one’s peers. Itlimited the power of the king or queen.

Magna Carta - 1215

Glorious Revolution (Revolution of 1688)

• Nobles and church officials who advised Henry III developed into a legislature—a lawmaking body—known as Parliament. In a power struggle, Parliament removed King James II from the throne. This peaceful transfer of power was the Glorious Revolution. From then on, no ruler would have more power than the legislature.

English Bill of Rights1689

• Parliament drew up the English Bill of Rights. It required the monarch to get Parliament’s consent to impose taxes, raise an army, or create special courts. It guaranteed free elections, free speech, a fair jury, and no cruel and unusual punishments.

Common LawIn its early days, England had

no written laws. People developed rules to live by which came to have the force of law. Judges made rulings consistent with precedents, or rulings in earlier cases that were similar. The system of law based on precedent and custom is known as common law. Our laws are based on English common law.

Do you remember???

What were some rights guaranteed by the English Bill of Rights?

(This document guaranteed free election of members of Parliament, free speech for Parliament members during meetings, the right to a fair jury in court cases, and that cruel and unusual punishments would be banned.)

Answer behind Homer

Do you remember???

What were some rights guaranteed by the English Bill of Rights?

(This document guaranteed free election of members of Parliament, free speech for Parliament members during meetings, the right to a fair jury in court cases, and that cruel and unusual punishments would be banned.)

Answer

Bringing the English Heritage to America (pages 30–31)

A colony is a group of people in one place who are ruled by a

parent country elsewhere. English colonists in America remained loyal subjects of

England. They accepted common law and expected the

same rights they enjoyed in England.

The American Colonies

A charter is a written document granting land and

the authority to set up colonial governments. The Virginia Company’s charter promised the colonists of

Jamestown the same liberties as in England.

The colonists chose representatives called

burgesses to meet with the governor. These

representatives formed the House of Burgesses,

the first legislature in the colonies. It

marked the beginning of self-government in the

colonies.

House of Burgesses Jamestown 1619

PatrickHenry - 1765

Before arriving in Plymouth, the Pilgrims drew up the Mayflower Compact, a

written plan that set up a direct democracy in the colony. A compact is an

agreement, orcontract, among a group of

people. All men would vote. The majority would

rule.

Signing of the Mayflower Compact

What expectations for government did English colonists bring with them

toAmerica?

What do you think?

(They accepted common law and believed that the ruler was not above the law.They also expected to have a voice in government and other basic rights that they had enjoyedin England.)

What expectations for government did English colonists bring with them

toAmerica?

What do you think?

(They accepted common law and believed that the ruler was not above the law.They also expected to have a voice in government and other basic rights that they had enjoyedin England.)

Answer

Early Colonial Governments (pages 31–32)

Virginia House of Burgesses. Jul 1, 1619

Later English colonies along the east coast

followed the examples of the MayflowerCompact and the

House of Burgesses. Each colony had a

governor and elected legislature,

often modeled after Parliament.

The colonial governments took on more power over time, as the

king and Parliamentwere preoccupied at home. The colonists grew used to making

their own decisions.

Chapter 2, Section 2The Birth of a Democratic Nation

(pages 33–38)

After years allowing the colonists to manage their own affairs (salutary neglect),

the British began to take an active interest in the colonies.

Well look at them…

Why the Colonies?

Economics…There were economic reasons why England

wanted close control over the colonies

Colonial Resistance and Rebellion (pages 33–35)

• By the 1770s, the British government began to tighten its grip on the American colonies. George III adopted a policy of mercantilism, the theory that a country should sell more goods to other countries than it buys.

George III in 1799/1800 by Sir William Beechey.

Colonists get the short end of the stick!

• Britain wanted to buy American raw materials at low prices and sell colonists British products at high prices.

Rising Costs

• Britain won land in North America from France in the French and Indian War. To pay off war debts and cover the costs of ruling the new lands, Britain taxed the colonists.

Territorial gains/losses results of the French and Indian War

No New Taxes!

• Colonists resented the taxes. They had no representatives in Parliament—“No taxation without representation.”

Just Say NO! (to British Goods)

• In protest, many colonists decided to boycott, or refuse to buy, British goods.

Parliament Bends, then Bucks Back…

• As a result, Parliament agreed to repeal, or cancel, the Stamp Tax and other taxes. However, Parliament soon replaced them with new taxes. Parliament’s Declaratory Act stated that it had the right to tax and make decisions for the colonies.

• The Townshend Acts taxed needed goods imported to the colonies. The colonists again boycotted.

Spot of Tea?

• The Tea Act allowed the British East India Company to bypass colonial merchants and sell tea directly to shopkeepers at low prices. In response, colonists blocked all the company’s ships from colonial ports, except in Boston. There colonists dressed as Native Americans dumped the British tea into Boston Harbor—the Boston Tea Party.

Parliament Bites Back!

Parliament responded with the Coercive Acts, which restricted colonists’ rights.

Look it up!

• What name did the colonists give to the Coercive Acts, and why?

• Use Your TextBook to get the answer…

Look it up!• What name did the colonists give to

the Coercive Acts, and why?

(The colonists called the Coercive Acts the “Intolerable Acts” because these laws restricted the colonists’ rights, including the right to trial by jury. The laws also allowed British soldiers to search, and even move into, colonists’ homes.)

Movement Toward Independence (pages 35–36)

• The colonies sent delegates, or representatives, to a meeting in Philadelphia known as the First Continental Congress. They demanded that King George III restore their rights.

The king responded with force.

The Revolutionary War begins

• The Revolutionary War began with battles at Lexington and Concord. Colonistsstarted to question their loyalty to Britain.

Battles of Lexington & Concord(April 1775)

• The British sent a force of roughly 1000 troops to confiscate arms and arrest revolutionaries in Concord

• They clashed with the local militia, marking the first fighting of the American Revolutionary War

• The news aroused the 13 colonies to call out their militias and send troops to besiege Boston

• The Battle of Bunker Hill followed on June 17, 1775.• While a British victory, it was made a victory by heavy losses

on the British side; • About 1,000 British casualties from a garrison of about 6,000,

as compared to 500 American casualties from a much larger force.

Concord, MassachusettsShot Heard Round the World

Lexington, Massachusetts

Talks of Independence

• Colonists began talking about independence,

or self-reliance and freedom from outside control.

2nd Contintental Congress

• At the Second Continental Congress, some delegates wanted independence. Others still felt loyal to Britain.

• Thomas Paine’s pamphlet Common Sense swayed public opinion toward independence. And finally, the Second Continental Congress agreed.

Paine’s arguments

• It was ridiculous for an island to rule a continent. • America was not a "British nation"; it was composed

of influences and peoples from all of Europe. • Even if Britain was the "mother country“ of America,

that made her actions all the more horrendous, for no mother would harm her children so brutally.

• Being a part of Britain would drag America into unnecessary European wars, and keep it from the international commerce at which America excelled.

Paine’s argument’s continued…• The distance between the two nations made

governing the colonies from England unwieldy. • If some wrong were to be petitioned to Parliament, it

would take a year before the colonies received a response.

• The New World was discovered shortly before the Reformation. The Puritans believed that God wanted to give them a safe haven from the persecution of British rule.

• Britain ruled the colonies for its own benefit, and did not consider the best interests of the colonists in governing them.

Think about this…

• Why did some members of the Second Continental Congress oppose independence?

Think about this…

• Why did some members of the Second Continental Congress oppose independence?

(Some believed the colonists could never win a war against Great Britain. Otherswere still loyal to their home country.)

The Declaration of Independence

(pages 36–38)

The Declaration of Independence(Adopted July 4 1776)

• A statement adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, which announced that the thirteen American colonies (then at war with Great Britain) were now independent states, and thus no longer a part of the British Empire

• Written primarily by Thomas Jefferson, the Declaration is a formal explanation of why Congress had voted on July 2 to declare independence from Great Britain

The Declaration justified the independence of the United States by listing colonial grievances against King George III, and by asserting certain

natural rights, including a right of revolution

Thomas Jefferson was heavily influenced by the ideas of John Locke and Thomas Paine.

He argued that the British government did not look after the interests of the colonists, and

listed many abuses by the king.