3. Did You Know? The Pilgrims had promised to settle within
the area granted to the Virginia Company, but rough weather and
navigation errors took them to New England instead. Pilgrim leaders
worried about their legal position because they did not have
the authority to settle in this area. They signed the Mayflower
Compact to solve this problem as well as to set up a government.
4. Influences from England’s Early Government
(pages 28–30)
• The English brought
with them a history of
limited and
representative
government.
• England was ruled by
a monarch—a king or
queen, but nobles
held much power.
5. Magna Carta - 1215
The nobles forced King John to sign
the Magna Carta. This document
upheld rights of landowners
including equal treatment under
the law and trial by one’s peers. It
limited the power of the king or
queen.
6. Glorious Revolution
(Revolution of 1688)
• Nobles and church officials
who advised Henry III
developed into a legislature—
a lawmaking body—known as
Parliament. In a power
struggle, Parliament removed
King James II from the throne.
This peaceful transfer of power
was the Glorious Revolution.
From then on, no ruler would
have more power than the
legislature.
7. English Bill of Rights
1689
• Parliament drew up the
English Bill of Rights. It
required the monarch to
get Parliament’s consent to
impose taxes, raise an
army, or create special
courts. It guaranteed free
elections, free speech, a
fair jury, and no cruel and
unusual punishments.
8. Common Law
In its early days, England had
no written laws. People
developed rules to live by
which came to have the
force of law. Judges made
rulings consistent with
precedents, or rulings in
earlier cases that were
similar. The system of law
based on precedent and
custom is known as
common law. Our laws
are based on English
common law.
9. Do you remember???
What were some
rights guaranteed (This document guaranteed
free election of members of
by the English Bill
Parliament, free speech for
Parliament members during
meetings, the right to a fair
of Rights? jury in court cases, and that
cruel and unusual
punishments would be
banned.)
Answer behind Homer
10. Do you remember???
What were some Answer
rights guaranteed (This document guaranteed
free election of members of
by the English Bill
Parliament, free speech for
Parliament members during
meetings, the right to a fair
of Rights? jury in court cases, and that
cruel and unusual
punishments would be
banned.)
12. A colony is a group of people in
The American Colonies
one place who are ruled by a
parent country elsewhere.
English colonists in America
remained loyal subjects of
England. They accepted
common law and expected the
same rights they enjoyed in
England.
13. A charter is a written
document granting land and
the authority to set up
colonial governments. The
Virginia Company’s charter
promised the colonists of
Jamestown the same
liberties as in England.
14. The colonists chose
representatives called
burgesses to meet with
the governor. These
representatives formed
the House of Burgesses,
the first legislature in
the colonies. It House of Burgesses
marked the beginning of Jamestown 1619
self-government in the
colonies.
Patrick
Henry - 1765
15. Before arriving in Plymouth,
the Pilgrims drew up the
Mayflower Compact, a
written plan that set up a
direct democracy in the
colony. A compact is an
agreement, or
contract, among a group of
people. All men would Signing of the Mayflower Compact
vote. The majority would
rule.
16. What do you think?
What
expectations for
government did
English colonists
bring with them (They accepted common law and
to believed that the ruler was not
above the law.
America? They also expected to have a voice
in government and other basic
rights that they had enjoyed
in England.)
17. What do you think?
What
expectations for
government did
English colonists
bring with them
Answer
(They accepted common law and
to believed that the ruler was not
above the law.
America? They also expected to have a voice
in government and other basic
rights that they had enjoyed
in England.)
19. Later English colonies
along the east coast
followed the examples
of the Mayflower
Compact and the
House of Burgesses.
Each colony had a
governor and elected
legislature,
often modeled after
Parliament.
20. The colonial governments took
on more power over time, as the
king and Parliament
were preoccupied at home. The
colonists grew used to making
their own decisions.
22. After years allowing the colonists to manage
their own affairs (salutary neglect),
the British began to take an active interest in the
colonies.
Well look at them…
23. Why the Colonies?
Economics…
There were economic reasons why England
wanted close control over the colonies
24. Colonial Resistance and Rebellion
(pages 33–35)
• By the 1770s, the
British government
began to tighten its
grip on the American
colonies. George III
adopted a policy of
mercantilism, the
theory that a country
should sell more
goods to other
countries than it
George III in 1799/1800 by Sir William Beechey.
buys.
25. Colonists get the short end of the
stick!
• Britain wanted to buy
American raw
materials at low
prices and sell
colonists British
products at high
prices.
26. Rising Costs
• Britain won land in
North America from
France in the French
and Indian War. To pay
off war debts and cover
the costs of ruling the
new lands, Britain taxed
the colonists.
28. No New Taxes!
• Colonists resented
the taxes. They had
no representatives
in Parliament—“No
taxation without
representation.”
29. Just Say NO! (to British Goods)
• In protest, many colonists
decided to boycott, or
refuse to buy, British
goods.
30. Parliament Bends, then Bucks
Back…
• As a result, Parliament
agreed to repeal, or
cancel, the Stamp Tax
and other taxes.
However, Parliament
soon replaced them
with new taxes.
Parliament’s
Declaratory Act stated
that it had the right to
tax and make decisions
for the colonies.
31. • The Townshend
Acts taxed needed
goods imported to
the colonies. The
colonists again
boycotted.
32. Spot of Tea?
• The Tea Act allowed the British
East India Company to bypass
colonial merchants and sell tea
directly to shopkeepers at low
prices. In response, colonists
blocked all the company’s ships
from colonial ports, except in
Boston. There colonists dressed as
Native Americans dumped the
British tea into Boston Harbor—
the Boston Tea Party.
34. Look it up!
• What name did the
colonists give to the
Coercive Acts, and why?
• Use Your TextBook to
get the answer…
35. Look it up!
• What name did the colonists give to
the Coercive Acts, and why?
(The colonists called the Coercive Acts the
“Intolerable Acts” because these laws
restricted the colonists’ rights,
including the right to trial by jury. The
laws also allowed British soldiers to
search, and even move into, colonists’
homes.)
36. Movement Toward Independence
(pages 35–36)
• The colonies sent
delegates, or
representatives, to
a meeting in
Philadelphia known
as the First
Continental
Congress. They
demanded that
King George III
restore their rights.
38. The Revolutionary War begins
• The Revolutionary War began with battles at
Lexington and Concord. Colonists
started to question their loyalty to Britain.
39. Battles of Lexington & Concord
(April 1775)
• The British sent a force of roughly 1000 troops to confiscate
arms and arrest revolutionaries in Concord
• They clashed with the local militia, marking the first fighting
of the American Revolutionary War
• The news aroused the 13 colonies to call out their militias and
send troops to besiege Boston
• The Battle of Bunker Hill followed on June 17, 1775.
• While a British victory, it was made a victory by heavy losses
on the British side;
• About 1,000 British casualties from a garrison of about 6,000,
as compared to 500 American casualties from a much larger
force.
42. Talks of Independence
• Colonists began
talking about
independence,
or self-reliance and
freedom from
outside control.
43. 2 Contintental Congress
nd
• At the Second
Continental
Congress, some
delegates wanted
independence.
Others still felt
loyal to Britain.
44. • Thomas Paine’s pamphlet Common Sense
swayed public opinion toward independence.
And finally, the Second Continental Congress
agreed.
45. Paine’s arguments
• It was ridiculous for an island to rule a continent.
• America was not a "British nation"; it was composed
of influences and peoples from all of Europe.
• Even if Britain was the "mother country“ of America,
that made her actions all the more horrendous, for
no mother would harm her children so brutally.
• Being a part of Britain would drag America into
unnecessary European wars, and keep it from the
international commerce at which America excelled.
46. Paine’s argument’s continued…
• The distance between the two nations made
governing the colonies from England unwieldy.
• If some wrong were to be petitioned to Parliament, it
would take a year before the colonies received a
response.
• The New World was discovered shortly before the
Reformation. The Puritans believed that God wanted
to give them a safe haven from the persecution of
British rule.
• Britain ruled the colonies for its own benefit, and did
not consider the best interests of the colonists in
governing them.
47. Think about this…
• Why did some members
of the Second Continental
Congress oppose
independence?
48. Think about this…
• Why did some members
of the Second Continental
Congress oppose
independence?
(Some believed the colonists
could never win a war against
Great Britain. Others
were still loyal to their home
country.)
50. The Declaration of Independence
(Adopted July 4 1776)
• A statement adopted by the Continental Congress on
July 4, 1776, which announced that the thirteen
American colonies (then at war with Great Britain)
were now independent states, and thus no longer a
part of the British Empire
• Written primarily by Thomas Jefferson, the
Declaration is a formal explanation of why Congress
had voted on July 2 to declare independence from
Great Britain
51. The Declaration justified the independence of
the United States by listing colonial grievances
against King George III, and by asserting certain
natural rights, including a right of revolution
52. Thomas Jefferson was heavily influenced by the
ideas of John Locke and Thomas Paine.
He argued that the British government did not
look after the interests of the colonists, and
listed many abuses by the king.
