Building the American System of GovernmentHow our Constitution came to be

Text chapter 2

Building the American System of Government Until 1776, each colony was really a separate

country from the others They had no responsibility or loyalty to each

other The economic system was mercantilism, Britain told each colony what to plant, grow,

and/or make

Building the American System of Government The colonies were charter colonies A charter was the deed to a specific piece of

land, and a set of rules for what the purpose of the colony was to be

Building the American System of Government Some charters were given to companies, to

make money for Britain; these were called joint stock colonies

Some charters were given to wealthy people to whom the king owed a favor

The man who got the charter was the proprietor (owner) and the colony was called a proprietary colony

Building the American System of Government Some charters were given to relatives of the

king, or were held by the king himself and ruled by his relatives. These were called royal colonies

Each colony had a different purpose Each was governed somewhat differently.

Building the American System of Government Massachusetts, for example, was a joint stock

company owned by Massachusetts Bay Company

People who volunteered to go live there did so because they were promised religious freedom.

Massachusetts’ first government centered on the church: theocracy

Building the American System of Government Jamestown founded purely to make money for

the London company that owned its charter. New York was a royal colony, a gift of King

Charles II to his brother James, the Duke of York

Each colony has a different story, but there were some things their governments all shared

Building the American System of Government Britain’s Parliament (legislature) made the

major decisions for the colonies Each colony could elect a local legislature to

make local decisions (like road-building and mail delivery)

These local legislatures were called “Houses of Burgesses” and the colonists were proud that they got to elect their representatives

Building the American System of Government Colonists were NOT allowed to elect a

representative to the great Parliament in London; only Englishmen in England could do that

This was a big source of argument -- Parliament had the only taxing authority

It seemed unfair that colonists had to pay taxes they weren’t allowed to vote on

Building the American System of Government Sometimes Parliament would pass a tax law,

regret it, and just refuse to enforce it. This policy was called salutary (helpful) neglect.

Neglect kept the colonists pacified, but also convinced some that Britain couldn’t enforce its own laws

Building the American System of Government In the 1750s, war broke out between French

colonists in the Appalachian Mountains and the English city-dwelling colonies.

Colonists happily joined the British army, and helped defeat the French

They assumed this would impress the British with their loyalty

Building the American System of Government The war cost Britain a great deal of money Britain believed that the war had been fought

to aid the American colonists -- so they should have to pay for it

So Britain passed new, higher taxes… and this time, they enforced them

Building the American System of Government Stamp Act only one example: a tax on

ANYTHING printed That law, in 1765, made colonists so angry

that they threatened to boycott (refuse to buy) any British products.

It worked; the tax was repealed

Building the American System of Government But Prime Minister Townsend felt the

Americans must be taught a lesson In 1765, he quietly put out a new ordinance

that Britain could make laws for the colonists “on any subject, whatsoever.”

Remember, the colonists were not allowed to vote on members to Parliament – only to their own Houses of Burgesses.

Building the American System of Government Some colonists began to talk of forming a

confederation, to demand English rights for colonists on the same level that Englishmen in England enjoyed.

These men began to talk about themselves as “patriots”

To Britain, they were nothing but traitors

Building the American System of Government As the patriot talk grew, England began to

push back in any way possible In 1773, a new tax on tea was instituted But Englishmen in England did not have to

pay this tax – only those in the colonies

Building the American System of Government To protest this unfairness, colonists resorted

to vandalism A group of colonists dumped an entire cargo

of tea into Boston Harbor one December night The British East India Tea company lost

millions of dollars worth of tea. Parliament voted to punish the entire

Massachusetts colony

The Boston Tea Party

Building the American System of Government The penalty was steep: Boston Harbor was closed, so no goods could

come in or out Meetings of two or more colonists were

forbidden Worst of all: the Massachusetts House of

Burgesses was ordered closed

Building the American System of Government In 1776 the colonies declared their

independence from England, and the Revolutionary War had begun.

Building the American System of Government The colonists weren’t “English” any longer. But what were they? And more to the point: what kind of

responsibility did they have to each other, now that England was no longer in control?

Building the American System of Government Benjamin Franklin had been telling the

colonies they’d be safer if they’d unite. The idea was not popular: what did any of

them know about people in any other colony? There was little travel, except to England

The colonies felt they had nothing in common

Building the American System of Government By 1776 colonists met in an assembly of

delegates from each colony They called this assembly “Congress,” or

“The Continental Congress” “congress” in those days simply meant

“meeting”

Building the American System of Government They decided to form a confederation They called their new country The United

States of America There was no central government, no king,

and no Congressional power to tax The only body that could tax the people of

one state was the House of Burgesses of that state

Building the American System of Government Why would they purposely make a

government be so weak? It accomplished some remarkable things: It defeated the most powerful army on earth It borrowed enough money from European

countries to finance the war

Building the American System of Government It made an incredibly successful treaty

agreement with Britain to finally end the war in 1781

And it passed a law describing how new states should be admitted, that is still in force today

Building the American System of Government The set of rules for this new government,

written by Congress in 1776-77, was called The Articles of Confederation

Unlike our Constitution today, the Articles were only 1 page long

Each state was sovereign There was no national executive, or national

court system

Building the American System of Government One continuing issue: How to make these new states really act as if

they were “United” as the title of the country proclaimed?

There was a strong feeling of unity during the war, that died out soon after it was won.

There were job riots, food riots, pay riots (soldiers couldn’t get paychecks)

Building the American System of Government Many wealthy businessmen began thinking of

moving away from the USA, into Canada or back to England.

In 1785, an ex-soldier named Daniel Shays started a two-state riot when he couldn’t pay the loan on his farm because the new government owed him money it couldn’t pay.

Building the American System of Government Shays’ Rebellion, as it was called, almost

brought the new country down. And it convinced leaders that the government

wasn’t strong enough to endure. Delegates met in Philadelphia in 1787 to

figure out a way to “strengthen the Articles.” They wound up casting the old document

aside, and writing a totally new Constitution.

Building the American System of Government The new government had 3 branches: a legislative,

an executive, and a judicial The legislative branch had two parts, or “houses.” In the Upper House, or “Senate,” all states were

equal; each had two representatives In the Lower House, or “House of Representatives”

membership depended on the population of the state The new Congress could not only borrow, it could

tax

Building the American System of Government The idea of the new executive, to be called

“President,” was frightening to some But the Constitution provided for ways to

check (weaken) his power that the other two branches could do, to keep a President from trying to be a king.

The national court system could settle arguments between two states; the old government had not been able to do that

Building the American System of Government This new Constitution was finished in fall of

1787 and sent to each state to be ratified (approved)

It would become final when 9 of the 13 approved it.

States were concerned that there was no guarantee of civil rights (England had never guaranteed these, either)

Building the American System of Government James Madison, a Virginia delegate to the

Convention, promised each state that if they would accept the new Constitution, the first thing the new Congress would do would be to make a federal Bill of Rights to protect citizens from the new national government.

That won the argument; the new government took office in 1790.