Chapter 4 Section 4: Roots of
Self-Government
In this section, we
will:
• Summarize why
England wanted to
regulate colonial
trade.
• Describe colonial
governments.
• Explain how the
liberties of the
colonies were limited.
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Key vocabulary terms this section:
• mercantilism
• bill of rights
• export
• English Bill of Rights
• import
• Navigation Acts
• Yankee
• triangular trade
• legislature
• Glorious Revolution
not the Yankee referred to in
this section......
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England Regulates Trade
• England believed the colonies
existed to benefit the mother
country. This belief is the
economic theory of mercantilism.
• according to mercantilist
theory, a nation becomes strong
by keeping strict controls over
its trade.
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Mercantilism­
Belief that the Colonies
existed to support the
mother Country.
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• Mercantilists believed a
country should export more
than it imported.
exports: goods
sent to markets
outside a
country
exports: OUT of a
country
• If England sold more goods
overseas, gold would flow into
the country as payment for
those exports!
imports: goods
brought into a
country
imports: INTO a
country
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• Beginning in the 1650s, the
English Parliament passed a
series of laws called the
Navigation Acts. These laws
regulated trade between England
and its colonies.
• the purpose of these laws was
to make sure only England
benefited from colonial trade.
• only colonial or English ships
could carry trade goods to/from
the colonies.
• certain products such as
tobacco or cotton, could be
shipped ONLY to England.
• this created
jobs for
English
workers who
cut and rolled
tobacco or
spun cotton
into cloth.
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• the Navigation Acts helped the
colonies in some ways.
• it encouraged colonists to build
their own ships. New England becomes
a prosperous shipbuilding center.
• merchants in the colonies did not
have to compete with foreign
merchants; they were ensured having
markets for their goods in England.
• many colonists resented the
Navigation Acts, as they favored
English merchants.
• many colonists ignored the
Navigation Acts or found ways around
them.
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Trade in Rum and Slaves
• New England merchants
dominated colonial trade.
They became known as
Yankees. Clever and
hardworking, Yankees
could always be counted on
to profit from any deal.
• Yankee traders formed
many trade routes. One
was called the "triangular
trade route" because the
legs of the route formed a
triangle.
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oute 8
Colonial Government
• each colony had its
own government, but
the governments had
much in common.
• each colony had a
legislature, or a group
of people have the
power to make and
pass______.
• most colonies had a
two-house legislature;
an upper house and a
lower house.
• upper house were
advisors appointed by
the governor.
• lower house was an
elected group of
people who formed an
assembly.
Farley factoid:
our own federal
and state
governments have
an "upper house"
and a "lower
house" of
representatives.
What are they
called???
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The Right to Vote
• Who could vote in a particular
colony? Each had its own rules about
who could vote.
• By the 1720s, all colonies had laws
that restricted voting rights to:
White Christian men over age 21.
• all voters had to own property.
• In some colonies, only Protestants
or members of a particular church
could vote.
• Colonial leaders believed that
property owners were wiser and
knew what was best for the colony.
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A Bill of Rights
• colonists took great pride
in their elected assemblies.
• colonists won more rights
as a result of the Glorious
Revolution of 1688.
• Parliament removes King
James II. William and Mary
sign the "English Bill of
Rights" in 1689.
• This protected the rights
of individuals and gave
accused criminals the right
to a trial by______.
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or lutio
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G vo ip
Re eo cl
vid
• also said a ruler could not
raise taxes or an army without
Parliament's approval.
• BILL OF RIGHTS: written
list of freedoms the
government promises to
protect.
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Limits on Liberties
• English colonists enjoyed more freedoms
than the English themselves.
• there were many people in the colonies
who did not benefit from these freedoms.
• women, Native Americans and blacks all
were treated decidedly different from
white males in colonial America.
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