Download - Government in Colonial America
PP. 35-42, WE THE PEOPLE
Colonial America
Incentive Plans
Royal Proprietorships Most proprietors were friends of the king
11 of the original 13 Example=William Penn Example=James, Duke of York, brother of King
Charles II
Joint-Stock Companies Business ventures Example=Virginia Company, Jamestown est. 1607
Why Was America Unique?
Cheap land=more land owners Primogeniture was still common
in EuropeHigh demand for labor
Indentured servantsChance to improve one’s lot
in life became a fundamental ideal of the American experience Ben Franklin was one of a
candle maker’s seventeen children
Alexander Hamilton was the son of a poor, unwed mother
What Rights Became Part of Colonial Charters?
Virginia Company’s charter:
“The Persons…which shall dwell…within every or any of the said several Colonies & Plantations, & every of their children shall HAVE & enjoy all Liberties, Franchises, & Immunities…as if they had been abiding & born, within this our Realm of England, or any other of our Dominions.”
The Rights of Englishmen
What Rights Became Part of Colonial Charters?
Virginia’s charter echoed the ideals of the Magna Carta all Englishmen, wherever they went, had certain rights
Similar charters were created in most of the 13 colonies
Expressing the rights of their citizens became part of colonial constitutions Example: Massachusetts Body of Liberties (1641)—
trial by jury, free elections, prohibited government from taking property w/o just compensation
Basic Ideas of Colonial Governments
A governor Appointed by the Crown
A council Advised the governor
An assembly or legislature Elected by the people Most were bicameral, like Parliament
Example: House of Burgesses in Virginia
Basic Ideas of Colonial Governments
Charters offered little detail on colonial gov’ts America was fertile ground for constitution-making
Connecticut set the precedent for a WRITTEN constitution Fundamental Orders, 1639
Basic Principles of Colonial Governments
Fundamental rightsRule of lawRepresentative government & the right to
vote Voting requirements:
White, male, land owner (typically 50+ acres)
Separation of powers Legislatures, governors, courts
1. Land ownership was easy
2. Shorter terms for office-holders
3. Direct representation (not “virtual”)
4. Salutary Neglect
*Anything else?
How did colonial governments become more representative than the government in Britain?
Firsts in Colonial America
Colony=Jamestown, VA, 1607African slaves arrive=VA, 1619First written framework for
government=Mayflower Compact, 1620Representative assembly=House of Burgesses,
VA, 1619Written constitution in North
America=Fundamental Orders of Connecticut, 1639
First written bill of rights=Massachusetts Body of Liberties, 1641
PP. 43-48, WE THE PEOPLE
The Road to Revolution
1763
End of French & Indian War England left in debt
Proclamation Line Trying to prevent future conflicts
End of Salutary Neglect
1765
Stamp Act GB needs revenue to pay off war debt
Quartering ActSons of Liberty & Daughters of Liberty
created
1766
Stamp Act repealed Ineffective/ignored
Declaratory Act passed Asserted GB’s full power & authority
1767
Townshend Revenue Acts Lead, glass, paint, paper, tea
Boycotts led by Daughters of Liberty
1770
Townshend Acts repealedBoston “Massacre”
Massacre?
1773
Tea ActBoston Tea Party
1774
Intolerable/Coercive Acts Closed Boston Harbor & ends MA’s colonial charter
1st Continental Congress
1775
Battle of Lexington/Concord “Shot heard round the world”
2nd Continental Congrss
1776
Thomas Paine’s Common SenseRichard Henry Lee’s resolutionDeclaration of Independence
Penned by Jefferson