The Colonial PeriodSocial Studies Survey

Origins and Development of Colonial Governments

Essential QuestionWhat elements of the English political heritage helped develop representative government in the American colonies?

I CAN:1. Explain why the colonists expected

representative government2. Analyze early British documents

that helped to set up our Declaration of Independence and Constitution

3. Describe the government of early colonial America

John Greene Crash Course #2https://www.youtube.com/results?search_q

uery=john+green+crash+course+us+history+2

Magna Carta Text ActivityStudents will use a copy of the Magna Carta to

read through and highlight/underline importance phrases that they have heard used before (from Declaration, Constitution, etc.)

An English Political Heritage The English

established the thirteen colonies

English system had two major principles:

1. Limited Government

2. Representative Government

Limited Government

System in which the power of the government is limited, not absolute

Magna Carta Videohttp://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=rROhCaTvyLc2:34 min

Magna Carta (1215)Also known as Great Charter

First appears in Magna Carta (1215) and only to nobility at the start

Petition of Rights (1628)Severely limited

King Charles 1 power

No longer collect taxes, imprison people without just cause, house troops in private homes or declare martial law without war

English Bill of Rights (1688)Set clear limits on what a ruler could and could not do

Set up 5 key ideas:

English Bill of Rights1. Monarchs do not have absolute

authority2. Monarch must have Parliaments

consent to suspend laws, levy taxes, or maintain army

3. Monarch cannot interfere with parliamentary elections and debates

4. People have right to fair and speedy trial

5. No cruel and unusual punishment

Representative GovernmentGovernment in which people elect delegates to make laws and conduct government

John LockeJohn Locke- Two Treatises of Government

Argued that if government failed to protect these natural rights, the people could change that government (social contract theory)

John Locke: father of enlightenment philosophy

Played a major role in the development of our government through his ideas

Believed governmental power was not derived through god to monarchs but rather was derived from the need to preserve “life, liberty, and property” of the governed

Helped to develop key ideas (such as three branches of government) within a democratic system

Key People in the Enlightenment

Government in the Colonies Each English colony

had its own governor, a legislature, and a court system

Each had:1. A written constitution2. Legislatures of

elected representatives

3. Separation of powers between governors and legislature

Mayflower Compact Videohttps://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=kwJDraGAV44Plymouth and the Pilgrims: America Story

of Us (9 min)

Mayflower Compact (1620First example of colonial self-government

Mayflower Compact Videoshttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TgZPiFgptdw4:25 min (ok)http://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=sYr8LbFNB00&feature=fvwrelCreation of the mayflower Compact (3:57)

Mayflower Compact

Great Fundamentals (1636)

First basic system of laws in the colonies

Fundamental Orders of Connecticut (1639)

First formal constitution or charter in the colonies

All men have the right to vote in the colony

Fundamental PreambleFor as much as it hath pleased Almighty God by the wise

disposition of his divine providence so to order and dispose of things that we the Inhabitants and Residents of Windsor, Hartford and Wethersfield are now cohabiting and dwelling in and upon the River of Connectecotte and the lands thereunto adjoining; and well knowing where a people are gathered together the word of God requires that to maintain the peace and union of such a people there should be an orderly and decent Government established according to God, to order and dispose of the affairs of the people at all seasons as occasion shall require; do therefore associate and conjoin ourselves to be as one Public State or Commonwealth; and do for ourselves and our successors and such as shall be adjoined to us at any time hereafter, enter into Combination and Confederation together, to maintain and preserve the liberty and purity of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus which we now profess, as also, the discipline of the Churches, which according to the truth of the said Gospel is now practiced amongst us; as also in our civil affairs to be guided and governed according to such Laws, Rules, Orders and Decrees as shall be made, ordered, and decreed as followeth

Colonial LegislatureFirst legislature in

America: Virginia House of Burgesses

Many colonies had legislature well before the Declaration of Independence and Constitution were put into place

Voting had property qualifications, but land was abundant and affordable

Separation of Powers

The division of power among the legislative, judicial, and executive branches

Baron de Montesquieu: Famous for developing separation of powers

• Rule by the people (democracy) is best as long as have a balance of power.

Three main forms of government, each supported by social “principle”:

1. Monarchies: rely on Honor (king or queen)2. Republics: rely on Virtue (rule by elected leader)3. Despotisms: rely on Fear (dictator)

Key People in the Enlightenment