The document summarizes the political origins and ideas that influenced American colonists and their growing tensions with British rule. It discusses documents like the Magna Carta, Petition of Right, and English Bill of Rights that inspired colonial beliefs in limited and representative government. The colonies were established for reasons like religion, trade, and as debtors' prisons. Tensions rose as Britain imposed taxes to pay war debts and limited colonial self-governance, without representation in Parliament. Major events like the Boston Massacre, boycotts, and Boston Tea Party protested "taxation without representation" and grew colonial resistance to unchecked British power.

1. The Road to Revolution

2. Our Political Beginnings
• American colonists believed that gov’t
should be:
– Ordered --> organized into offices
– Limited --> it was NOT all-powerful
– Representative --> gov’t was to serve the
people’s interests, not its own

3. Where Our Gov’t Ideas
Came From
• Magna Carta (1215) - first document that
officially limited the power of the English king
– Basically said that the king did not have unlimited
power
• The Petition of Right (1628) - further limited
the king’s power
– couldn’t throw people in prison without a trial
– couldn’t use the military to rule people in times of
peace

4. The English Bill of Rights
(1689)
• Said:
– Parliament was in control of taxing, not the
king
– People couldn’t be punished for asking the
king to fix problems
– No cruel and unusual punishment
– Everyone got a fair trial

6. The Colonies (1607-1733)
• 13 English colonies were established in
America for
– religious freedom
– commercial trading/farming/fishing
– New home for debtors
– All colonies were started with a charter -
written permission from the king

7. Types of Colonies
• Royal Colony- under the direct control of the
king
• King named a royal governor to rule the
colony
• Had a bicameral legislature
– “bicameral” = two houses
– “legislature” = group of representatives that make
laws

8. • Proprietary Colony - king gives land to a
proprietor (overseer/owner), who organized
the colony
– colony was directly controlled by the proprietor,
not the king (still reported to him)
• One colony had a unicameral (one-house)
legislature

9. • Charter Colony - based on charters
given straight to the colonists
– Mostly governed themselves
– Officials were elected by the people, not
the king or proprietor

11. Group Work
• Imagine you are subjects under King John
John XXXXVII.
• Create a Bill of Rights listing all the
freedoms you wish to have as the king’s
subject (List at least ten)
– What freedoms do you value? What rights should
all people have?
– Make your list REALISTIC, as if the king were
going to read it.

12. British Colonial Policies
• Britain was in serious debt after the
French and Indian War
– Decided that the colonies should help pay
the debt
– The colonies had been taxing themselves
and had been left alone for several years
by the Crown

13. Problems With Britain
• “Taxation Without Representation” -->
American colonists were not given a voice in
Parliament
– saw themselves as British subjects and believed
representation was a right of all Englishmen
– Colonists believed Parliament had no right to tax
them
• Taxes:
– Stamp Act - tax on paper goods and documents
– Other taxes laid on imports like tea, paper, and
glass

14. • Great Britain also:
– Housed troops in people’s homes
– Left troops to monitor cities
– Cracked down on smuggling and enforced
strict trade rules (colonies could only trade
with Britain)
– Took power from local colonial gov’ts

15. Response of the
Colonists
• To avoid paying taxes, they would
smuggle (sneak) other goods in
• They boycotted (to protest by not
buying something) British goods until
Parliament lifted taxes
• Protested, petitioned the
King/Parliament, and destroyed British
property

16. The Boston Massacre
• March 5, 1770 - A mob of Boston colonists
harassed British troops stationed in the city,
and shots were fired in the chaos, leaving 5
people dead
• Used as propaganda against the British to
encourage colonial rebellion

18. The Boston Tea Party
(1773)
• British tea ships block
Boston Harbor until the
colonists bought their
tea
• 116 colonists dress up
as Indians and throw
boxes of tea into the
Boston Harbor
• Then Britain shut down
Boston’s port until they
could pay back the
damage