The Colonial Period

Chapter 2Section 1

Movie Clips

• http://www.history.com/topics/mayflower-compact/videos#deconstructed-mayflower

• http://www.history.com/topics/colonial-government-and-politics/videos#the-mayflower

Section 1An English Political Heritage

• The English colonists advanced two basic political principles:

– limited government—the concept that a monarch’s power is limited, not absolute

– representative government—a government in which people elect delegates to make laws and conduct government

• The Magna Carta came to represent the idea of limited government to protect from:

Section 1

– unjust punishment and the loss of life, and

– levying of taxes without popular consent.

• The Petition of Right limited the power of Charles I by preventing him from collecting tax without Parliament’s consent.

An English Political Heritage (cont.)

• The English Bill of Rights advanced several principles including:

Section 1

– Monarchs do not have absolute authority.

An English Political Heritage (cont.)

– The monarch must have Parliament’s consent to suspend laws, levy taxes, and maintain an army.

– The monarch cannot interfere with parliamentary elections.

Section 1

• John Locke’s theory of a social contract was based on natural rights to:

– life,

An English Political Heritage (cont.)

– liberty, and

– property.

Section 1Colonial Governments

• Colonial governments established practices that became key to the nation’s system of government, including:

– a written constitution

– a legislature of elected representatives

The Thirteen Colonies

–the separation of powers between the executive and the legislature

Section 1Colonial Governments (cont.)

• The Mayflower Compact was the first colonial plan for self-government.

• The General Fundamentals was the first system of law in the English colonies.

• The Fundamental Orders of Connecticut was America’s first formal constitution.

• The Virginia House of Burgesses was the first colonial legislature in America.