Roots of American Democracy Chapter 2
Roots of American Democracy Chapter 2. Influences from England’s Early Government The English brought with them a history of limited and representative.
Dec 31, 2015
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Roots of American Democracy
Chapter 2
Influences from England’s Early Government
• 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.
• It limited the power of the king or queen.
Remember…..• The Magna Carta firmly
planted the principle that the King, like other Englishmen, is subject to the law.
• The Magna Carta became a symbol of political liberty and the foundation of Constitutional government. Field at Runnymede
Four Ideas To Remember…• There are four ideas
from the Magna Carta that were very important in the development of Constitutional government in Great Britain and America.
Number 1
• Government should be based on the rule of law.
Number 2
• Government should be based on an agreement or contract between the ruler and the people to be ruled.
Number 3
• Certain basic rights may not be denied by government.
Number 4
• Representatives of the people should take part in government.
• Elizabeth Dole
• Walter B. Jones
• Richard Burr
Influences from England’s Early Government
• 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 Parliament
Influences from England’s Early Government
• 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.
Influences from England’s Early Government
• In 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.
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.
John Locke
• (1632-1704) Englishman
• Wrote “Two Treatises on Government” (1690)
• Locke’s most important work
• It helped to form contemporary ideas of liberal democracy.
John Locke• Locke believed that
governments derive their authority from popular consent (regarded as a “contract”) so that a government may be rightly overthrown if it infringes such fundamental rights of the people as religious freedom.
John Locke• Locke believed that
government should exist only with the consent of the governed.
• All men have human rights of life, liberty, and property which are God given or “Natural Rights”.
• Societies were formed to protect these natural rights.
John Locke• All persons are free,
equal, and independent.
• The “Social Contract” theory states that individuals consent to give up a portion of their liberties, rights, and powers for the common good.
The Philosophies• The Philosophies
were a reformist group that believed “society could be better that it was”.
• Voltaire was the leader, chief organizer, and chief propagandist for the Philosophies.
Francois Marie Arouet Voltaire
• (1694-1778) Frenchman
• Wrote “Letters on the English”
• Believed in…• Freedom of Thought• Freedom of Religion• Freedom of Speech• Freedom of the
Press
Francois Marie Arouet Voltaire
• “If there were no God, it would be necessary to invent him.”
• Epître à l’Auteur du Livre des Trois Imposteurs. cxi.
Baron de la Brede et de Montesquieu
• (1689-1755) Frenchman
• Wrote the “Spirit of the Laws” (1748)
• It compared the English political system to those in other nations.
Baron de la Brede et de Montesquieu
• A comparative study of three types of government—republic, monarchy, and despotism— “The Spirit of the Laws” was admired for its depth, clarity, and brilliant, unadorned style.
Baron de la Brede et de Montesquieu
• “The Spirit of the Laws” asserted that multiple solutions existed to the problems of government and freedom, and that these solutions depended on the differing guiding principles of societies.
Baron de la Brede et de Montesquieu
• Montesquieu believed in…
• Democracy• Tri-Partite Government• Separation of Powers• Checks and Balances• Republican Civic Virtue
Jean Jacques Rousseau
• (1712-1778) Swiss• Wrote “The Social
Contract” (1762)• He believed that
individuals could find genuine happiness and fulfillment only in a social situation.
Jean Jacques Rousseau
• His first principal of political philosophy was that politics and morality should never be separated.
• His second principal was freedom, which the state was created to preserve.
Jean Jacques Rousseau
• When a state fails to act in a moral fashion, it ceases to function in the proper manner and ceases to exert genuine authority over the individual.
Jean Jacques Rousseau• Rousseau believed…• Government should exist
only with the consent of the governed;
• People set up governments;
• People can take power away from governments;
• All people are equal.
Bringing the English Heritage to America
• 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.
Bringing the English Heritage to America
• 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.
Bringing the English Heritage to America
• 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.
Bringing the English Heritage to America
• 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, or contract, among a group of people.
• All men would vote. • The majority would rule.
Early Colonial Governments
• Later English colonies along the east coast followed the examples of the Mayflower Compact 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 Parliament were preoccupied at home.
• The colonists grew used to making their own decisions.
What examples did new colonies follow in setting up their
governments?
• They followed the examples of the Mayflower Compact and the House of Burgesses. Many colonial legislatures were modeled after the English Parliament.
The Birth of a Democratic Nation
Chapter 2
Section2
Colonial Resistance and Rebellion
• 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.
• Britain wanted to buy American raw materials at low prices and sell colonists British products at high prices.
Colonial Resistance
• 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.
• Colonists resented the taxes. • They had no representatives in
Parliament–“No taxation without representation.”
Colonial Resistance
• In protest, many colonists decided to boycott, or refuse to buy, British goods.
• 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.
Colonial Resistance
• The Townshend Acts taxed needed goods imported to the colonies.
• The colonists again boycotted.
Colonial Resistance• 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.
Colonial Resistance
• Parliament responded with the Coercive Acts, which restricted colonists’ rights.
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• 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 began with battles at Lexington and Concord.
• Colonists started to question their loyalty to Britain.
• They began talking about independence, or self-reliance and freedom from outside control.
Movement Toward Independence• 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.
• Finally, the Second Continental Congress agreed.
Why did some members of the Second Continental Congress
oppose independence?Some believed the colonists could never win
a war against Great Britain. Others were still loyal to their home country.
Declaration of Independence
• The Declaration of Independence, written mostly by Thomas Jefferson, explained why the United States should be a free nation.
• It argued that the British government did not look after the interests of the colonists. It listed many abuses by the king.
Declaration of Independence
• The Declaration said that the purpose of government is to protect the rights of the people.
• Government is based on consent of the people.
• If it disregards their rights or their will, the people are entitled to change or overthrow it.
Declaration of Independence
• These ideas were influenced by philosopher John Locke.
• He saw government as a contract between the people and the rulers. The people agree to give up some freedoms and abide by government decisions.
• In return, the government promises to protect them and their liberty.
• If it misuses its power, the people should rebel.
Declaration of Independence
• The Second Continental Congress approved the Declaration on July 4, 1776.
• True freedom arrived when Britain officially recognized the United States at the war’s end.
Chapter 2
Section 3
Early State Constitutions
• New Hampshire was the first colony to organize as a state and craft a written plan for government, or constitution.
• Other states formed similar systems of government.
• Most state legislatures were bicameral–divided into two parts, or houses.
• Members of the two houses were chosen by different methods.
Early State Constitutions
• Each state had an elected governor to carry out the laws and judges and courts to interpret the laws.
• Most state constitutions included a bill of rights.
Early State Constitutions
• The Massachusetts constitution was different from the others. (1780)
• It distributed power more evenly among the legislature, governor, and courts.
• It gave the governor and the courts the authority to check the legislature.
• The constitution itself was not created by the legislature but by a convention of elected delegates.
• The Massachusetts constitution would later become the model for the U.S. Constitution.
Under the state constitutions, what were the jobs of the legislature, the
governor, and the courts?The legislature created the laws, the
governor carried out the laws, and the courts interpreted the laws.
Articles of Confederations
• Separately, the states could not maintain a large army to fight the British.
• For this and other reasons, the Second Continental Congress made a plan for union called the Articles of Confederation.
• A confederation is a group of individuals who band together for a common purpose.
Articles of Confederation
• The Articles set up a one-house legislature.
• As a result of bad experiences with the British government, the states refused to give Congress the power to tax or to enforce its laws.
• Congress could not require the states to give money or do anything else.
Articles of Confederation
• The states ratified, or approved, the Articles.
• Strict voting requirements to pass laws or amend (change) the Articles made it difficult for Congress to accomplish anything.
• Even when it passed laws, Congress could not enforce them.
• States could just ignore the laws.
Articles of Confederations
• The Treaty of Paris was signed in 1783, ending the Revolutionary War.
• Unable to collect taxes, Congress had borrowed to pay for the war.
• The states had also run up deep debts. • To pay their debts, the states overtaxed their
citizens and even taxed goods from other states and foreign countries.
• The Confederation Congress had no power to solve these problems.
Articles of Confederation
• Daniel Shays, an indebted farmer, felt the state had no right to take his farm away because of a problem the state had created.
• He led an uprising, known as Shays’s Rebellion.
• This unrest swayed leaders toward revising the Articles of Confederation to create a stronger national government.
What problems did the tax practices of the states cause for
their citizens after the Revolutionary War?
To pay their deep debt, state governments taxed their citizens heavily, driving many farmers out of business and sparking widespread resentment. The states also taxed goods from other states and foreign countries, hurting trade.
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