REVIEW – QUIZ ON MONDAY! Our English Heritage (9/19/11) Birth of a Democratic Nation (9/20/11) Problems with the English Government

(9/21-23/11) Road to the Constitution (9/26/11) Creating and Ratifying the Constitution

(9/28/11)

OUR ENGLISH HERITAGE From the 1600s – English traditions of limited and representative government Monarchy – King or Queen

Relatives and noble families had power and were given land in exchange for loyalty, taxes, etc.

 Magna Carta – 1215 King John treated nobles harshly Rebelled and forced king to sign the Magna Carta protecting their privileges and

authority Granted certain rights such as equal treatment under the law and trial by one’s peers

(WHAT AMENDMENTS DOES THAT SOUND LIKE?) First form of limiting government

 Parliament – England’s law making body – legislature Common law – no written laws, judges determining right from wrong would look at

precedents – ruling in earlier cases  1600-1700s England established colonies in America.

Colony-group of people in one place who are ruled by a parent country elsewhere Set up through Charter- written document granting land and authority to set up

colonial governments First permanent settlement was Jamestown in Virginia in 1607

Colonists chose 2 representatives and 22 of the governors council – House of burgesses.

Little power but FIRST form of self governance. 1620 – Pilgrims arrived in Plymouth in Massachusetts

Came in the Mayflower so their compact (Agreement among the people to govern) was called the Mayflower Compact – 1620

Set up a direct democracy 1733- all of the13 colonies established

BIRTH OF A DEMOCRATIC NATION 1760 – King George III took the throne and established a system

called mercantilism (selling more than you buy) to try to make as much money from the colonies as possible using the colonies as a source for cheap and raw materials. The unequal trade agreements of low priced exports and high

priced imports between the colonies and England led to economic problems in the Colonies.

“No taxation without representation” – Colonists were upset because they had no representatives in English Parliament Led to a boycott – refuse to buy English products. England repealed the taxes.

Stamp Act; Declaratory Acts; Townshend Acts = MORE BOYCOTTS Tea Act – made tea from Britain the cheapest – British East India

Company Colonists blocked the ships from the colonial ports, dressed as

Native Americans and dumped 342 chests of tea into the ocean = BOSTON TEA PARTY

English response = Intolerable Acts AKA Coercive Acts restricting colonists rights and allowing soldiers to search and move into colonists homes

1774 – FIRST CONTINENTAL CONGRESS Colonists sent 12 delegates (Representatives) to Philadelphia to

discuss their concerns. They wanted to establish a sort of government in America to stand up to Britain

Sent a document complaining to King George III and demanding to get their rights back

King George III responded violently

May 1775 – SECOND CONTINENTAL CONGRESS Some people didn’t think Colonists could win a battle against Britain.

Debated long for the best option. During this time Thomas Paine came out with the “Common Sense” Pamphlet where he argued breaking from England was common sense.

Second Continental Congress = First form of Government in the Colonies

Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of independence saying the English Crown was not looking out for the colonists’ best interests. In it they say the purpose of government is to protect the rights of the people and that they had the right to overthrow the government for not doing so. Influenced by John Locke’s “Second Treatise of Government” - It said

that a good government is based on a social contract where people agree to give up some of their rights to establish a government and they can overthrow it if it misuses its power.

ROAD TO THE CONSTITUTION Confederation: group of individuals united together for a purpose  Articles of Confederation Good

States kept power and independence = sovereign No government telling states what to do Congress can create military to protect the states

Bad No way to enforce laws States could ignore laws No power to collect taxes to pay government funded occupations Could only be changed with consent from ALL states

  Limited government? NO! absolutely no government, every man for

himself mentality Branches of government? No branches but clearly needed some Citizens rights? No, not defined in Articles All or nothing? Not effective method for altering Articles

The Virginia Plan: Established our 3 branches of government two houses and each state would be represented based on

populations. The New Jersey Plan:

One house The Great Compromise/Connecticut Compromise

2 Houses: the Senate and the House of Representative The Senate would have 2 members per state which meant all

states had an equal representation The House of Representatives would represent their states based

on population.

The Three-Fifths Compromise: every 5 ensalves persons would count as 3 free persons. This way, slaves would count toward the population total to

gain more representation in the House for the southern states.

CREATING AND RATIFYING THE CONSTITUTION

Constitution was drafted to implement a Federalism a form of government in which power is divided

between the federal, or national, government and the states.

Federalists: supported the document Anti-federalists: felt it gave too much power

to the national government; wanted a bill of rights. The promise of a bill of rights turned the tide and

Anti-federalists agreed to the proposed Constitution Needed 9/13 states approval – In 1788, New

Hampshire was the 9th State The Constitution was now in effect and the 13

independent states were now one nation, the United States of America.

The bill of rights was adopted in 1791, soon after the Ratification of the Constitution.