Influences on
American
colonial
Government
Ancient democracies
Ancient Democracies

Judaism


Ancient Greece




Every person has worth and is equal before the law
Free men over 18 are citizens
Council of 500 that took turns governing Athens
Democracy
Ancient Rome


The wealthy upper class chose senators to represent
them
Republic
Early English influences
 Magna
Carta
 Limited the King’s power
 Gave rights to free men
 Equal treatment under the law
 Trial by one’s peers
 Nobles had right to rebel if the
King broke the Magna Carta

The Magna Carta established limited government
Early English influences
 Parliament


Lawmaking body of English
government
Nobles and representatives of
common people
 English


Bill of Rights
King and Queen agreed that
English citizens had rights that no
king could violate
Parliament now had more power
than the King!
English bill of rights







No imprisonment without due process of law
No loss of property without due process of law
No cruel punishment
No standing army in time of peace without
Parliament’s consent
No taxation without Parliament’s consent
Subjects (people) have the right to petition
the king
Freedom of speech in Parliament
Influence of the
Enlightenment
 Change
in how people saw the world
 Laws
can be discovered through human
reason
 Enlightenment

thinkers
Machiavelli “It is better for a ruler
to be feared than loved”
Enlightenment Thinkers
Name
Years
Lived
Beliefs
Thomas Hobbes
1588-1679 People agree to be ruled
because their ruler pledges
to protect their rights
John Locke
1632-1704 People have rights to life,
liberty and property that
the government must
protect for the common
good (natural rights)
Baron de
Montesquieu
1689-1755 Separate the parts of
government so no one part
can become too powerful
Voltaire
1694-1778 People have the rights to
speak freely, and this right
The First Colonial governments

Jamestown






First permanent English settlement in North
America
Founded by the Virginia Company
Ruled by Governor and a council
Virginia Company allowed to create own
laws
Colonists elected leaders to represent
them
House of Burgesses

Beginning of self government and
representative democracy
The First Colonial governments

Mayflower Compact

Pilgrims!
Written agreement
Agreed to choose leaders and work together to create laws

Direct Democracy


People of Plymouth (where the Pilgrims lived) held town hall
meetings
 Anyone could attend and voice opinions
 Only men could vote

Settlement, culture and
government of the Colonies
Reasons for settling
 Economic


Farming
Indentured servants
 trip
is paid for but then must work off debt
 Religious

Opportunity
Freedom
Pilgrims or Puritans
 Wanted
to worship their own God…but did
not allow others that freedom
Colonial Economics
Colonial Region
Description
New England
Little Farms
Small Businesses
Shipbuilding and Fishing
Fur Trading and Trapping
Middle Colonies
Wheat
Ironworks
Grain
Southern Colonies
Large Farms and Plantations
Tobacco
Rice
Indigo
Colonial
Government

Distance with England created a sense of self
rule

Local assemblies (elected by the colonists)
started to push for more power against the
royal governors (appointed by the King)

Britain seen as looking out for only them, not
the colonists
Disagreements
with Great Britain
The French and Indian War
 British/American
colonists are
moving west, into French land
 Tension
between the Brits and
French create WAR!
 Many
Native Americans join up with
the French
 British
win! Troops stay in the
colonies
New taxes

French and Indian War cost A LOT of money

Britain was in debt

So the king thought this…”If the colonists
moved west and caused the tension AND
profited by the British military they should help
pay for it”

Colonists were upset
New Laws

Proclamation Line of
1763

Colonists could not
move past the line to
prevent fighting with
the Native
Americans

Colonists were upset
New taxes

Stamp Act


Colonists said that
only their elected
representatives had
the right to tax them

For 100 years, the
colonists taxed
themselves, now
Britain is taxing them
Colonists had to buy
stamps to put on
ANYTHING that is
printed
Newspapers
 Playing Cards
 Legal Documents



Colonists boycott
Parliament repeals
Declaratory Act
 Parliament
has the right to tax the
colonies and make decisions over the
colonies
Tea Tax

The British East India Trade Company (Pirates
of the Caribbean)


British tea was cheaper than all other tea


Allowed then NOT to pay the existing tea tax
Economically forced people to choose their tea
Boston Tea Party

Colonists dumped 1 MILLION DOLLARS worth of
tea into Boston Harbor
Townshend Acts
 Duties
(taxes) on many goods imported from
overseas
 General
search warrants allowed
 Colonists
held boycotts and protests, all taxes
were ended except the TEA TAX
Coercive and Intolerable Acts
 Boston
Harbor is closed: Huge hit to their
economy
 Town
meetings are illegal without British
Governor’s okay
 Quartering
Act--colonists required to provide
shelter to British soldiers
 Trials
of British officials moved out of
Massachusetts
 Canadian
border extended, threatens liberty!
First Continental Congress
 Sept
1774
 Representatives
Philadelphia
from 12 colonies meet in
 What
should the colonists do about the
Coercive Acts?
 Sent
a letter to the King: “Please respect our rights!”
 King
George III: “Colonies are in rebellion!”
Second Continental Congress
 May
1775
A
month earlier the first shots of the
American Revolution took place
 Should
the colonies stay loyal or be
independent?
 Sent
the Olive Branch Petition
 Colonists “We are loyal to you King, just not
Parliament”
 King doesn’t care
Declaration of independence

Inspired by Thomas Paine


Colonists should be independent!
Rebel against the king’s “violent abuse of
power”

Written by Thomas Jefferson

Approved on July 4th, 1776

No other government was based on consent
of the governed … this document is amazing!
Declaration of independence
Declaration of Independence
“
Patriots vs. Loyalists
 Not
everybody
wanted
independence
 Loyalists=
stay with
England
 Patriots = we want
independence
American Revolutionary War
 For
10 years colonists and
the British fought
 Later
France joined up with
the Americans
 The
colonists win! They are
their own nation!
The Country’s
first
Government
State Governments

Different depending on the state

Most were bicameral (two parts)

Governor

Courts

List of rights for the state’s citizens
Articles of Confederation

Government that would extend over EVERY STATE

First constitution of the U.S.A.

One House Legislature


Each state (13) hjad one vote
STRENGHTS


Controlled the army
Could negotiate with foreign countries
Confederation Congress

Ordinance of 1785


Plan for surveying (measuring) western lands
Northwest Ordinance



1787
Set up the government for the Northwest
Territory
Plan for admitting new states into the country
Weaknesses of the Articles
Lack of Power and Money
Congress had no power to collect taxes
Congress had no power to regulate trade
no power to enforce its laws
Lack Congress
of Centralhad
Power
No single leader or group directed government policy
No national court system existed
Rules Too Rigid
Congress could not pass laws without the approval of 9 states
The Articles could not be changed without the agreement of all 13
states
Shay’s Rebellion
Question
Answer
Who?
Daniel Shay (Massachusetts farmer) and 1,200 protesters
What?
Series of attacks
Protesters attacked a federal arsenal
When?
1786 & 1787
Why?
Massachusetts taxed their citizens a lot & trade slowed down
farmers cannot sell crops
Farmers went into debt and were put in jail
How?
The state militia crushed the protesters, others fled
Shay’s Rebellion
 Effects?
 Made
politicians nervous
 Many
used the rebellion as evidence that
the Articles needed to be revised
 Constitutional
later
Convention will happen