Ms. Valentine's Notes

Unit 1

Origins of American Government

Magna Carta

•Signed by King John in 1215, established the principle of limited government.  It provided protection against unjust punishment and loss of life, liberty and property except in accordance with the law.  In it the king also agreed that certain taxes could not be levied without popular consent.

•These rights originally applied only to nobility.

Petition of Right

•In 1625, Charles I took the throne, dissolved Parliament, lodged troops in private homes, and declared martial law in some areas.

•In 1628, when he recalled Parliament, they forced him to sign the Petition of Right which further limited the kings power.

The king could no longer tax without Parliament’s consent, put people in jail without just cause, house troops in private homes without the owners consent, or declare martial law unless the country was at war.

English Bill of Rights

•In 1688, Parliament removed James II and gave the crown to his daughter Mary II and her husband William III, also know as William of Orange.

•Before they could take the throne they had swear an oath and agree to abide by the English Bill of Rights.

•The English Bill of Rights combined elements from the Petition of Right and the Magna Carta and added a few more.

Key ideas of the English Bill of Rights

•No more divine right

•Must have Parliaments consent to suspend laws, levy taxes, or maintain and army.

•Cannot interfere with parliamentary elections & debates.

•People have the right to petition the government, to have a fair & speedy trial by a jury of their peers.

•No cruel & unusual punishment nor excessive bail and fines.

Representative Government –a government in which people elect delegates to make laws and conduct government.

•Our model – British Parliament.  It consisted of two chambers.  The upper chamber , called the House of Lords, included members of the aristocracy.  The lower chamber, called the House of Commons, was mostly property owners or merchants elected by other merchants and property owners.

John Locke

•Took Thomas Hobbs’ “state of nature” and expanded upon it.  He believed that “natural law” provided the rights to life, liberty and property.  People contracted amongst themselves to form governments to protect these “natural” rights. And if government failed to protect these rights, the people could change government.

•His ideas have been called the “textbook of the American Revolution.”

Early Colonial Governments

•Written constitutions were a key feature.

•The Mayflower Compact of 1620 stands as the first example as a colonial plan for government.

•The Great Fundamentals adopted by the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1629 was the first basic system of laws in the colonies.

•The Fundamental Orders of Connecticut adopted in 1639, was America’s first formal constitution.

Colonial Legislatures

n The Virginia House of Burgesses, established in 1619, was the first legislature in America.

n Representative assemblies were firmly entrenched in the colonies well before independence from Great Britain.

n They were an example of consent of the governed because a large number of men were qualified to vote.

Separation of Powers

nColonial charters divided the government.

n The governor, usually the king’s agent, had executive power.

n Colonial Legislatures had the power to pass laws.

n Colonial courts heard cases.

Uniting for Independence

n For 150 years after the founding of Jamestown, the colonies pretty much did what they wanted with little if any interference from England.

n The French & Indian War (1754 – 1763) and King George III changed that.

n The Stamp Act of 1765 was the first direct tax on the colonists.

n The Boston Tea Party of 1773 was the result of Britain’s increased tax revenues.

n The Coercive Acts, also known as the Intolerable Acts, closed down Boston Harbor and took away rights of self government.

Colonial Unity

•In 1754, Benjamin Franklin proposed the Albany Plan of Union.  This plan was rejected by the colonies because they didn’t want to loose any of their sovereignty.

•In 1765, nine colonies formed the Stamp Act Congress to protest King George’s actions.

•In 1773, organizations called committees of correspondence were urging resistance to the British.

•On September 5, 1774, all of the colonies except Georgia met in Philadelphia and formed the First Continental Congress, and they imposed an embargo on Britain.

Second Continental Congress

•Formed three weeks after the battle at Lexington & Concord (April 19,1775) by delegates of all thirteen colonies.

•They assumed the power of a central government.

•Elected John Hancock president.

•In July 1775, Ben Franklin submitted a draft for articles of confederation, but the question of independence from Britain took precedence.

Declaration of Independence

•In June 1776, Richard Henry Lee put forth the resolution “these United Colonies are, and ought to be, free and independent states.”

•A committee consisting of John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Robert Livingston, and Roger Sherman was set up to prepare a written declaration of independence.

•Thomas Jefferson was asked by the committee to write the draft.

•July 4, 1776, 56 delegates signed “The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America.”

The purpose of the Declaration was to justify revolution and lay out the founding principles of a new nation.

•It begins with a statement of purpose and basic human rights.

•The middle lists the specific complaints against King George III.

•The conclusion states the colonists’ determination to separate from Great Britain.

•After this the colonies saw themselves as “states” subject to no higher authority.

•By the end of 1776, 10 states had adopted written constitutions.