Life in the Colonies

Governing the Colonies: English Parliamentary Tradition In 1215, English nobles got together and forced

King John to sign the Magna Carta

The Magna Carta is the first document to put restrictions on the powers of the English ruler Limited the monarch’s right to levy taxes without

permission Protected private property Guaranteed trial by jury

These rights soon extended to English citizens

ParliamentA parliament is a two-house legislature, or a

group of people who make laws

Consisted of the House of Lords and the House of Commons The House of Commons was elected

Parliament had the “power of the purse”

English Bill of RightsParliament levied, or imposed, taxes

The king couldn’t raise a standing army

Election of Parliament was free

Freedom of Speech and debates in Parliament

The right of habeas corpus The idea that a person cannot be held in prison

without being charged with a crime

Colonial Self GovernmentEach English colony in America had a colonial

governor who was appointed by the king

They also did have their own legislative body

These colonial legislatures and the colonial governors would often class

The only people who could vote at this time are white males who owned property

Freedom of the PressThe right of journalists to publish the truth

without restriction or penalty

John Peter Zenger printed articles that were critical of the government He was arrested for libel He argued that what he printed were facts and not

considered libel

The Zenger case established that a democracy depends on a well-informed citizen To have this, the press needs to be able to print

the truth

Regulating TradeWhat is mercantilism?

Parliament passed the Navigation Acts Shipments from Europe to English colonies had to

go through England first All imports from the colonies to England had to

come in on English built ships The colonies could sell key products like sugar and

tobacco only to England

The Acts first helped the colonies, but they quickly began to resent them Why?

Colonial Society

Roles of WomenWomen would marry men who were chosen by

their parents Everything that belonged to the woman now

belonged to her husband

Women were in charge of childcare and all domestic duties Cooking, cleaning, laundry, spinning yarn, sewing,

working on the farm

Women had little to no role in public life They could not vote or hold office

Social ClassesGentry:

Upper class people in colonial society They were few in number, but the most powerful

people in society

Social Class cont.Middle class:

Made up of small planters, independent farmers, and artisans

Indentured Servants People who signed a contract to work from 4 to 10

years in the colonies for anyone who would pay for his or her ocean passage to the Americas

Indentured servants had few if any rights

Free African Americans Only about 1 percent of African Americans in the

colonies were free Some even owned their own slaves

Spreading of New Ideas

EducationThe first schools in America were started by

the local church

Massachusetts was the first colony to have public schools

Puritans financed Harvard College, which was the first college in the colonies

Great AwakeningDuring the 1730s and 1740s, there was a huge

Christian movement throughout the colonies This led to people becoming even more religious

and many new churches were started

Read Jonathan Edwards, pg 121

The growth of these new churches eventually did lead to a better religious tolerance between them

The Enlightment A new intellectual movement in Europe that focused on “natural laws”

John Locke: He believed that all people have certain natural rights, or rights that everyone

has from birth Life, liberty, and property These cannot be taken away He challenged the idea of divine rights, or the idea that monarchs get their

power to rule from God Governments were created to protect these rights

Divine Rights vs. Natural Rights

Divine Rights The right to govern comes

from God to the ruler

People’s rights come from the ruler

People must obey ruler, even if the ruler violates people’s rights

Natural Rights The right to govern comes

from the people

People’s rights come from God to the people

The people can change the government if the government violates their rights

MontesquieuHe came up with the idea of a separation of

powers in government The power of the government is divided up into

separate branches This protects the rights of the people by making

sure not one branch gets too powerful

Three Branches: Legislative – Makes the laws Executive – enforces the laws Judicial – make judgments based on the laws and

interprets the laws