1. Origins of American
Government
The Colonial Period

2. English Heritage
• Limited Government
– Power of the ruler is
limited and not
absolute.
– Magna Carta: signed
in 1215 by King John
• Protected against
unjust laws and loss of
life, liberty, or property.

3. English Heritage
• Petition of Right
– Parliament’s limit on Charles I
in 1628.
– Limited power:
• Parliament had to approve taxes.
• No imprisonment without just
cause.
• No quartering of troops.
• No martial law without war.

4. English Heritage
• Bill of Rights
– Resulted from the Glorious Revolution
• Monarchs do not have a divine right to rule.
• Parliament must give permission to suspend
laws, collect taxes, or maintain an army.
• No interference with elections.
• People have the right to petition the
government.
• No cruel or unusual punishment.

5. English Heritage
• Representative Government
– Government in which people elect delegates to
make laws and conduct government.
• 2 chambers to Parliament:
– House of Lords: nobility
– House of Commons: elected businessmen and merchants from
middle class.

6. English Heritage
Parliament - London
Gordon Brown

7. English Heritage
• John Locke
– Two Treatises on
Government
• All people are born free, equal
and independent
• Natural Rights: Life, Liberty,
and Property
• If the government does not
satisfy these rights, the people
have a right to change the
government.
• Influence of American
Revolutionary documents.

8. Colonial Governments
• Written Constitutions
– Mayflower Compact (1620)
• Basic rules for the colony of Plymouth Rock, MA.
• First plan of self-government in colonies.
• Influenced the other colonies that followed.
• Usually allowed people to elect their own governors, judges, and
representatives.

9. Colonial Governments
• Colonial Legislatures
– Virginia House of Burgesses (1619)
• First representative government in the colonies
• Showed that Americans could manage their
own affairs.
• Requirement to vote was to own property; not
an issue in America.

10. Colonial Governments
• Separation of Powers
– Division of the power of government
• Still must answer to the King; but considerable self-
government
• Three branches
– Legislative
– Executive
– Judicial