3. PURPOSE OF GOVERNMENT
A. Government-the ruling authority for a
community/society that has the power to
make/enforce laws
B. Functions:
1. keep order
2. provide security
3. provide public services
C. Levels
1. Federal/National
2. State
3. Local
D. Branches
1. legislative-makes laws
2. executive-enforces laws
3. judicial-interprets laws
4. PURPOSE OF GOVERNMENT, CTD.
E. Types of Democracy (government by
the citizens/people)
1. Direct-all citizens have a chance to
vote on every law/action
2. Representative (Republic)-citizens
elect officials to make decisions on
their behalf USA
F. Other Types of Governments
1. Monarchy-ruled by a king or
queen, usually inherited power
2. Dictatorship/Autocracy/Totalitarian-
ruled by one with the force of the
military
3. Theocracy-ruled by religious
leaders
4. Oligarchy-ruled a few
5. ENGLISH
POLITICAL
TRADITIONS
Section II
British Coat of Arms (current)
6. ENGLISH POLITICAL TRADITIONS
A. England’s government has historically
been a monarchy (rule by king or
queen)
B. King John I was forced to sign the
Magna Carta “Great Charter” that
established important rights that we still
have today:
1. accused are guaranteed a trial by
jury
2. accused are presumed innocent until
proven guilty
3. all citizens are guaranteed justice
Magna Carta
4. regardless of class status, all citizens created: 1215
had to follow the same laws and will be
punished the same for breaking those
laws
7. ENGLISH POLITICAL TRADITIONS, CTD.
C. Parliament:
1. originally they were the king’s advisors
2. during the Glorious Revolution, Parliament
force the king out of power and named
William & Mary as rulers (first time
Parliament had more power than the king)
3. Parliament passed the English Bill of
Rights which required Parliament officials
to be elected and that no citizen would be
subjected to cruel & unusual punishment British Coat of Arms
1215 -1707
4. Parliament used the system of common
laws (based on customs and precedents)
to make decisions
9. ENLIGHTENMENT PERIOD
A. This was the time that Europeans began to
question traditional ideas about many
areas, especially government and how it
should be run
B.Philosopher John Locke helped pave the way
for the American Revolution:
1. purpose of the government was to protect
the natural rights (life, liberty, and property) of
the citizens
2. believed in a social contract where citizens
have to agree to give up some of their
freedoms in exchange for the protection of
their rights by the government
10. ENLIGHTENMENT PERIOD, CTD.
C. Other Important Philosophers:
1. Baron de Montesquieu-power of
government should be divided into 3
branches
2. Jean-Jacques Rousseau-believed “all
men are created equal”
3.Voltaire-believed government should
not control religion and there should be a
“separation of church & state”
12. ROAD TO AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE
A. Early Forms of Government in the
Colonies
1. Mayflower Compact: established
self government by written law in
Plymouth Colony
2. House of Burgesses: first form of
representative democracy set up in
VA colony
B. the king forced the colonies to trade
only with England, allowing England
to become richer and more powerful
(this was called mercantilism);
eventually colonies started to trade
with other countries and weren’t
punished by the crown
13. ROAD TO AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE, CTD.
C. The French & Indian War
1. late 1750s to early 1760s
2. Colonists & England fought France for
ownership of land in America
3. Proclamation of 1763 said colonists
could not settle land west of the
Appalachian Mountains to avoid conflict
with the Native Americans (colonists did
not like this law)
D. The Stamp Act
1. all printed documents had to have a
stamp (this was free before Stamp Act)
2. colonists responded by boycotting
British goods and eventually it was
repealed
3. Boston Massacre resulted as tension
grew between the colonies & the crown;
5 colonists killed.
14. ROAD TO AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE, CTD.
E. Boston Tea Party (1773)
1. Britain passed the Tea Act, placing tax
on British tea
2. Sons of Liberty led revolt, dressing up
as Mohawk Indians, boarding the British
tea ships and dumping the tea into
Boston Harbor
F. English Response to Tea Party: Intolerable
Acts (1774)
1. said there would no trial by jury in the
colonies
2. passed the Quartering Act which
forced the colonists to feed & house
British troops
3. blockaded Boston Harbor, resulting in
hardships for Boston residents
15. ROAD TO AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE, CTD.
G. 1st Continental Congress (1774) in Philadelphia:
1. all colonies but GA represented
2. colonists met to address Intolerable Acts
3. sent King George III the Declaration of Rights &
Grievances asking him to repeal acts, marking the first
time colonists acted against the crown
4. King George responded with more violence at the
Battles of Lexington & Concord, defeating the colonials at
both places
H. 2nd Continental Congress (1776) in Massachusetts:
1. all colonies sent representatives
2. colonists were split 50-50 on the issue of
independence
3. Thomas Paine wrote Common Sense, calling for
independence from England
4. after much debate, delegates decided to send a
declaration for King George & England
16. ROAD TO AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE, CTD.
I. Declaration of Independence
(1776)
1. Thomas Jefferson was the
main writer, basing ideas off of
Enlightenment Philosophers
2. delegates listed 27
complaints against England
3. Jefferson stated it was not
only a right to become
independent, but a responsibility
to do so
4. led to American Revolutionary
War
18. CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION
A. Problems Facing the US
1. heavy debt from Revolutionary War
2. federal government had no power to
tax, so states placed heavy taxes on
citizens, causing many businesses to fail
B. Articles of Confederation (1st form of
Government after Revolutionary War)
1. created loose alliance of states
2. had a unicameral (one house)
Congress with each state getting one
vote
3. had no executive or judicial branch
19. CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION, CTD.
C. Problems with the Articles of
Confederation:
1. each state had 1 vote regardless of
size or population
2. no power to tax
3. cannot regulate foreign or interstate
trade
4. no executive branch to enforce
rules
5. no judicial branch to settle disputes
6. unanimous vote was need to
amend the A of C
7. 9/13 states were required to pass
laws
20. CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION, CTD.
D.Shay’s Rebellion
1. farmer who lost his land and organized an
army to prevent other farmers from losing land
2. government had a hard time stopping this
rebellion
3. this led the US to realize they needed a
stronger centralized government, leading to the
Constitutional Convention
E. Constitutional Convention (1787)
1. delegates have decided to amend the Articles
of Confederation or scrap it and start over
2. George Washington (Commander of
Continental Army) presided over Convention
3. James Madison recorded notes on the
proceedings
4. needed to decide if they wanted to make one
large state with a central government or set up a
federal system (power divided between central
government & states)
21. CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION, CTD.
Great Compromise
1. Virginia Plan + 2. New Jersey Plan =
(CT Compromise)
Proposed by James Proposed by William
Madison Patterson Set up a bicameral
Supported by states Supported by smaller legislature
with larger populations states Senate would have equal
Thought representation Thought there should representation
in government should be equal
House of Representatives
be based on population representation in
Congress would have
Government should be representation based on
made up of 3 branches Called for the Federal
Executive to be made population
Federal government up of more than one Most important
should have expanded person
powers compromise of convention
Judicial branch should
have one court
Have a unicameral
legislature
F&G
22. CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION, CTD.
H. Other Compromises:
3/5: slave states wanted to count slaves as part of the population for
representation in Congress; decided they could count 3/5 slaves as population as
long as they agreed to pay 3/5 more in taxes and the slave trade could not be
interfered w/ for 20 years
Trade & Commerce: northern states wanted federal government to regulate
trade, southern states did not for fear of taxing cash crops and fear of eliminating
slavery; decided that federal government could regulate trade, but could not
Electoral College: Constitution writers did not trust common citizens to elect the
president; decided to create Electoral College where state legislatures chose
electors to meet together and select a president
23. CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION, CTD.
I. Ratification (Approval) of the Constitution:
1. 9/13 states (~3/4) had to ratify
Constitution before it went into effect
2. Anti-Federalists-did not support
ratification (Patrick Henry, John
Hancock, Sam Adams); said federal
government will be too strong and took too
much power from states (no guarantees of
basic liberties of citizens)
3. Federalists-supported ratification (James
Madison, Alexander Hamilton); wrote
Federalist Papers supporting stronger
central government; promised to add a Bill
of Rights if Anti-Federalists ratified
Constitution
4. Constitution went into effect when New
Hampshire became the 9th state to ratify it
(June 21, 1788). NC ratified it on November
1, 1789, & Rhode Island was the last state
to ratify it.
5. Constitution could only be amended
(changed) by a vote of the states
