2.1- Our English
Heritage
Mrs. Shadoin
Civics and Economics
What Influenced Colonial
Government?
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Enlightenment= cultural
movement that spread the
idea that reason and science
could improve society
The English brought with
them a history of limited
and representative
government and new ideas
about law, society, and
rights people possessed
The Magna Carta (1215)
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In 1215, English nobles
rebelled against King
John and forced him to
sign the Magna Carta
It protected nobles’
privileges and also
granted rights that
eventually applied to all
English, including equal
treatment under the law
and a trial by jury
The Magna Carta (1215)

The Magna Carta
limited the power of
the monarch by
guaranteeing no one
was above the law,
not even the King or
Queen
King John
Parliament

Legislature= a lawmaking body, in Great
Britain it is known as Parliament
Parliament

In 1688 Parliament removed King James II
from the throne, this was known as the
Glorious Revolution, from now on, no ruler
would have more power then Parliament
English Bill of Rights (1689)

The document
further restricted the
monarch’s power, it
guaranteed free
elections to
Parliament, the right
to a fair trial, and the
elimination of cruel
and unusual
punishment
Common Law
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In it’s earliest days,
England had no written
laws, people developed
rules, and they began to
have the force of law
A court system developed
and when judges decided
cases they would look for
a precedent or a ruling in
an earlier case that was
similar, to be consistent
Common Law
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This system of law is
known as common law,
it rests on court
decisions rather than
regulations written by
lawmakers
Our laws about
property, contracts, and
personal injury are
based on English
common law
Philosophical Influences

John Locke was an
English writer who
argued people were
born free, equal, and
independent
Philosophical Influences

He believed they possessed rights, called
natural rights, to life, liberty, and property that
no government could take away
Philosophical Influences

He also believed in the
social contract where
people in a society agree
to give up part of their
freedom to a
government in exchange
for protection of natural
rights; people agree to
obey the government as
long as it protects their
rights
Philosophical Influences

Baron de Montesquieu developed the idea about
dividing the branches of government into different
parts to balance each other so that one part cannot
become too strong or threaten individual rights
Representative Government

The 1st permanent
English settlement in
North America was
Jamestown in
Virginia, it was
founded in 1607 by
the Virginia
Company
Representative Government

It was organized as a joint-stock company
which provided investors partial ownership
and a share in future profits
Representative Government

The merchants
received a charter,
from King James I
which was a written
document granting
land and the
authority to set up
colonial
governments
Representative Government

In 1619, the colonists formed the House of
Burgesses, the first legislature in the English
colonies, it marked the beginning of self
government
The Mayflower Compact (1620)
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In 1620, the Pilgrims arrived in America and
built a settlement called Plymouth in
Massachusetts
On board their ship, the Mayflower, they drew
up a written plan for government known as the
Mayflower Compact
The Mayflower Compact (1620)

Compact= an
agreement, or
contract among a
group of people
Town Meetings
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The Mayflower
Compact established a
tradition of direct
democracy citizens held
town meetings to
address local problems
and issues
Everyone in town could
attend and express their
opinions but voting was
limited to men who
owned property
Fundamental Orders of Connecticut (1639)
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Some Pilgrims were being persecuted for their
religious beliefs, they left Massachusetts and
colonized the area that is now Connecticut
Fundamental Orders of Connecticut (1639)
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There they developed America’s first written
constitution, the Fundamental Orders of
Connecticut
It called for an assembly of elected
representatives from each town to make laws,
it also called for the popular election of a
governor and judges
http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Fundamental_Orders
Early Legislatures
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By 1733, thirteen
English colonies
stretched from
Massachusetts in the
north to Georgia in the
south
Each colony had a
governor elected by the
colonists or appointed
by the king; they each
had a legislature with
representatives elected
Salutary Neglect
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As the years passed colonial governments took
on more responsibility while the King and
Parliament dealt with matters in Great Britain;
colonists became used to making their own
decisions; this policy was known as Salutary
Neglect