Origins of American Government

1. Origins of American Government Our Political Beginnings The Coming Independence Chapter 2 Section 1 and 2

2. Vocabulary Limited Government – individuals have some right that governments cannot take away Representative Government – governments should serve the will of the people and people should have a voice

3. Vocabulary Magna Carta – document signed by King John in 1215 acknowledging that even the king had to share his power. At the time this only applied to nobles but it planted the seed for a constitutional monarchy, not absolute Petition of Right – 1628 limited the power of the monarchy for individuals

4. Vocabulary English Bill of Rights – 1688, guaranteed rights such as fair trial and no cruel and usual punishment Charter – written grant of authority from the king involving a land grant Bi-cameral – 2 house legislature including an upper and lower house Unicameral – 1 house legislature

5. Vocabulary Proprietary Colony – Land grant giving one person the right to organize it Royal Colony – a colony ruled directly through the king.

6. Basic Concepts of Government Our first settlers brought with them the customs and laws from England The first settlers organized their towns based on those common laws using a sheriff, coroner, justice of the peace, and grand juries.

7. Basic Concepts of Government Babylonia – Hammurabi’s Code Greece – direct democracy Rome – 12 Tables which spread throughout their Empire in Europe English Law Native American Law

8. Basic Concepts of Government Land was divided into counties and townships. They brought the idea of limited government They began a representative government in Jamestown

9. Basic Concepts of Government The new government was based on English law and tradition from the Magna Carta, Petition of Rights and the English Bill of Rights

10. Limited Government Absolute monarchies had lost some of their power in England beginning in 1215. The idea of limiting the power of government was brought with the early colonists.

11. Magna Carta In 1215, English nobles forced King John to sign the Magna Carta, making the king share power with them It included a trial by jury and due process before taking life, liberty or property.

12. Petition of Right Almost 400 years later, in 1628, Charles I signed the Petition of Right which gave rights to common people. This document further eroded the power of the absolute monarchy It challenged the idea of divine right saying the king had to obey the law.

13. English Bill of Rights After the Glorious Revolution in 1688, William and Mary agreed to the English Bill of Rights This required the elected Parliament to share the power of government

14. English Bill of Rights It gave the right to a fair trial, freedom from excessive bail and cruel and unusual punishment and prohibited a standing army unless authorized by Parliament. The absolute monarchy was dead in England

15. Representative Government Colonists also brought with them the idea of electing representatives to serve for them in government.

16. Jamestown The first permanent English colony was started as a joint-stock company, the Virginia Company. The first inhabitants were employees

17. Massachusetts The Pilgrims settled in New England to escape religious persecution The Puritans believed all other faiths were damned to hell.

18. Georgia To relieve overcrowding in debtors prisons, Britain sent victims of the Poor Laws to Georgia It was set up as a military colony to buffer Spanish Florida from the Carolinas

19. Royal Colonies Of the 13 colonies, 8 were under direct control of the Crown – NH, MA, NY, NJ, VA, NC, SC, GA The king named a governor but the lower house was elected by the people

20. Proprietary Colonies Three were proprietary colonies: PA, MD, DE Lord Baltimore – Delaware William Penn – PA and MD Major decisions were made by the king while day to day business was controlled by elected representatives