Basic Concepts of Government•Ordered – Colonists saw the need for orderly regulation of their relationships with one another.

•Limited – Government should not be all-powerful.

•Representative – Government should serve the will of the people.

Landmark English Documents•Magna Carta – Limited government and fundamental rights.

•Petition of Rights – Limited the monarch’s authority, elevated Parliament’s power, and extended individual rights.

•Bill of Rights – redefined the rights of Parliament and the rights of individuals.

1215 Magna Carta

Trial by jury

Due process

Private property

No cruel punishment

No excessive bail or fines

Right to bear arms

Right to petition

No unreasonable searches or seizures

Freedom of speech

Freedom of the press

Freedom of religion

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1689 English

Bill of Rights

1776

2B

1791

Bill of Rights

Foundations of American Rights

1215

1689

1776 Virginia

Bill of Rights

Issues Behind the Revolution“Men being …by nature all free, equal, and independent, no

one can be put out of this estate and subjected to the political power of another without his own consent.”

-John Locke, Two Treaties of Government, 1690

“In order to have liberty, it is necessary that government be set up so that one man need not be afraid of another.”

-Baron de Montesquieu, The Spirit of the Laws, 1748

“Only the general will can direct the energies of the state in a manner appropriate to the end for which it was founded,

i.e., the common good.”

-Jean-Jacques Rousseau, The Social Contract, 1762

Colonial Governments•Royal – Subject to control of the crown and run by appointed governors.

•Proprietary – Owned by wealthy individuals who appointed governors.

•Charter – Governed by the colonies through elected governors and advised by councils.

Reasons for Exploration•God, Glory, Gold (wealth)•Northwest Passage•Overcrowding in Europe•New Markets

First Major Colonies•Plymouth – Mayflower Compact•Jamestown – Virginia House of Burgesses•Massachusetts Bay Colony – Limited Democracy•Connecticut – Fundamental Orders of Connecticut•Maryland – Acts of Toleration

Reasons for Failure•Attacks•Famine•Disease•Laziness

The Coming of IndependenceRoyal Control – •Salutary Neglect caused by distance and tradition.•Colonial Legislatures assumed lawmaking powers.•After 1760, Parliament imposed a series of new taxes and restrictions, which brought about protests (“No Taxation without Representation”).

The Coming of IndependenceGrowing Colonial Unity – •Albany Plan of Union –

Proposed by Franklin.Annual meeting of colonial governments to deal with common issues.Plan was rejected.

•Stamp Act Congress – Colonies met to denounce taxes/restriction and organize boycotts and protests.

The Coming of IndependenceFirst Continental Congress – •1774 Intolerable Acts caused colonists to have meeting and make plans for action.

•Congress sent a Declaration of Rights to the King, protesting taxes and restrictions.

The Coming of IndependenceSecond Continental Congress – •1775 Congress meets, but the Revolution has already begun.•Congress organizes a government and army•Serves as government until the Articles of Confederation.•Congress was unicameral with executive and legislative powers.

The Coming of IndependenceThe Declaration of Independence – •Announces that the United States is independent from Great Britain and lists the reason for separation.•Contains 4 Parts.•Preamble proclaims the equality and rights of people.

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed; That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.”

The Coming of IndependenceThe First State Governments – •Wrote and adopted their own Constitutions.•Fundamental Orders of Connecticut.

The Coming of IndependenceCommon Features of New States – •Popular Sovereignty – Consent of the Governed.•Limited Government – Power was restricted.•Civil Rights and Liberties•Separation of Powers•Checks & Balances

The Articles of Confederation

•Between 1777 and 1781, the Articles were ratified.•One body of Congress – unicameral – each state gets one vote (can send any # of Rep’s) – 9 out of 13 needed to pass laws and unanimous needed to amend the Articles.•Congress could make war, treaties, send Rep’s to countries, and borrow money.•Congress could NOT regulate trade or tax.•State constitution had all of the power.

Accomplishments•First real framework for Government.•Government succeeded in getting favorable terms after the war.•New standards regarding women and slavery•Separation of church and state•No aristocratic or hereditary titles.

Other Problems•Financial – Country in debt due to war, money had no value•Foreign – other countries tried to take advantage of the United States.•Shay’s Rebellion – Defy Government that acted against the will of the people & showed that the Articles needed to be changed.

Nationalists•Group that included Washington, Franklin, Madison, and Hamilton wanted a strong central government – feared that the common citizen had too much power in the state legislatures.

•Lack of order (political/economic) would bring chaos.

Annapolis Convention

•Terrible turnout but states do agree to meet again in Philadelphia – to revise the Articles only.