Foundations of American Political Philosophy

Foundations of American Political Philosophy

Magna Carta• Protections from

unjust punishment• Protection of life,

liberty, and property• Certain taxes must

have the consent of Parliament

English Bill of Rights• Rejection of absolutism• Parliament must approve:

Suspension of laws, Taxes, Standing Army

• Monarch cannot interfere in Parliamentary elections or debate

• Guarantee of fair and speedy trial by peers

• Forbids Cruel and Unusual Punishments

Locke: “Two Treatises on Government”

• Social Contract: rulers given authority by the consent of the governed

• Inalienable rights: Life, liberty, and Property

• Governments formed to protect rights

The Mayflower Compact

“Civil Body Politick”

FACT:• The American Revolution was a

bad break-up that was just waiting to happen … taxes were just the straw that broke the Camel’s back–Like the lemons in “The Break-Up”

Colonial History• Virginia – Jamestown (1607)

– Chartered as a merchant colony; tobacco main cash crop (hoped for gold); indentured service and rough men; slavery – first natives then

– 20:1 ration men to women; drinking gambling

• Massachusetts – (1620; 1630)– Pilgrims: Plymouth; first go to Netherlands, then to America; working class

and humble– Puritans: Boston; very religious (intolerant); high education and

professional; carefully plan colony, legislature based on English government; high living standard

• Maryland (1632)– Founded as catholic refuge later begin to allow protestants; becomes slave

colony

Colonial History• New York (1670)

– Originally New Amsterdam; set up as trading post (fur) with no future plans and no military presence; English take over in 1670 and rename

• Carolinas – Settled by plantation owners from Barbados, bring system with them;

rice plantations spring up, need for slave labor (African); slaves out number colonists 2:1 by 1700s

• Pennsylvania– Founded by Quakers; radical and egalitarian, universal suffrage;

maintain friendly relations with natives, outlaw slavery

Colonial Governments• Diversity

— Religious vs. Commercial roots—Escape from primacy

• Written Constitutions– Separation of Powers– Limited government

• Colonial Legislatures– Made policy for day-to-day

issues– British policy of Salutary Neglect

Road To Revolution• The Proclamation Line (1763)

– barring colonial settlement west of the Allegheny Mountains in Pennsylvania

• The Sugar Act (1764)– establish a British monopoly in the American sugar

market– allowed royal officials to seize colonial cargo with

little or no legal cause

Road To Revolution• The Stamp Act (1765)

– “taxation without representation.”– Sons of Liberty and Stamp Act Congress

• The Townshend Duties (1767)– taxed glass, lead, paint, paper, and tea entering the

colonies.– profits used to pay the salaries of the royal governors

• Boston Massacre (1770)• Committees of Correspondence (1770-1772)

Road To Revolution• Boston Tea Party (1773)

– Tea Act in 1773 eliminated import tariffs on tea entering England – a group of colonists dressed as Native Americans dumped about $70,000 worth of

the tea into Boston Harbor

• Intolerable Acts (1774)– Closed Boston Harbor to trade until the city paid for the lost tea. – Removed certain democratic elements of the Massachusetts government, most

notably by making formerly elected positions appointed by the crown. – Restricted town meetings, requiring that their agenda be approved by the royal

governor – Declared that any royal agent charged with murder in the colonies would be tried in

Britain. – Instated the Quartering Act, forcing civilians to house and support British soldiers