Political Traditions are Brought from England

Political Traditions are Brought from England

Page 35-38

Colonization in N. America

• For 200 years before America declared her independence settlers had been coming

• France, Spain, England and Holland• English eventually won control and brought

with them their long-established traditions of politics, law, and government.

France and England

• Main rivals for colonization in N. America• After French and Indian War, England took

control of:– French territories in Canada and Great Lakes– Spanish territory in Florida

• England had control of all of N. America east of the Mississippi

Four Important Principles from England

• 1. Limited government• 2. Representative government• 3. Individual liberty• 4. Rule by law

– These ideas had come from hundreds of years of English history.

Limits on the monarchy

• Limits were placed on royal power by the Magna Charta

• Magna Charta is considered the foundation of English constitutional freedom

• limits on taxation, protection of private property, trial by jury, religious freedom

• Important in establishing the principle of limited government.

Representative Government

• A lawmaking body developed from the nobles and bishops - parliament

• Two houses– House of Lords - upper house-bishops and

nobles-inherited or appointed– House of Commons - lower house- knights and

townsmen who were elected by other knights and townspeople

• Established principle of representative gov’t

Individual Liberty

• The principal of personal freedom was a part of English history

• Magna Charta made it clear that the people possessed certain rights that not even the ruler could take away

• Established the idea of judgement by your peers.

Struggle for Parliamentary Power

• Parliament fought for more rights for the people

• Petition of Rights increased the freedoms and rights of the people

• King ignored it at first but parliament resisted and it turned into civil war.

• King was defeated and a republic was set up.

English Bill of Rights

• Signed by William and Mary • It recognized certain basic rights of the

people• Parts of it would later be used to write the

Constitution of the U.S.• Has stood throughout history as a beacon

for citizen rights

Locke and Social Contract

• Purpose of gov’t is to protect the people’s rights to life, liberty, and property.

• People have the right to remove the gov’t if it fails to do so.

• Locke’s ideas were used by Jefferson in the writing of the Declaration of Independence

Rule by Law

• Common law was built on decisions of judges, based on custom and tradition

• Was to be the law throughout the country• The decisions served as precedent for later

judgements• English valued common law as a safeguard

of rights since it didn’t come from the king• English colonist brought the idea of rule by

law to America