- The document outlines the basic concepts of government that influenced the development of government in the American colonies, including ordered government, limited government, and representative government as outlined in landmark English documents like the Magna Carta. - It then discusses the different types of colonial governments and growing calls for unity among the colonies, culminating in the First and Second Continental Congresses. This led to the Declaration of Independence and establishment of new state governments with principles like popular sovereignty, limited government, and separation of powers. - However, the Articles of Confederation that followed had many weaknesses, leading to compromises at the Constitutional Convention and the drafting of the U.S. Constitution, which was then ratified despite opposition from Anti-Federal

1. American Government Chapter 2

19. The Critical Period