PP. 35-42, WE THE PEOPLE

Colonial America

Incentive Plans

Royal Proprietorships Most proprietors were friends of the king

11 of the original 13 Example=William Penn Example=James, Duke of York, brother of King

Charles IIJoint-Stock Companies

Business ventures Example=Virginia Company, Jamestown est. 1607

Why Was America Unique?

Cheap land=more land owners Primogeniture was still common

in EuropeHigh demand for labor

Indentured servantsChance to improve one’s lot

in life became a fundamental ideal of the American experience Ben Franklin was one of a candle

maker’s seventeen children Alexander Hamilton was the son

of a poor, unwed mother

What Rights Became Part of Colonial Charters?

Virginia Company’s charter:

“The Persons…which shall dwell…within every or any of the said several Colonies & Plantations, & every of their children shall HAVE & enjoy all Liberties, Franchises, & Immunities…as if they had been abiding & born, within this our Realm of England, or any other of our Dominions.”

The Rights of Englishmen

What Rights Became Part of Colonial Charters?

Virginia’s charter echoed the ideals of the Magna Carta all Englishmen, wherever they went, had certain rights

Similar charters were created in most of the 13 colonies

Expressing the rights of their citizens became part of colonial constitutions Example: Massachusetts Body of Liberties (1641)—

trial by jury, free elections, prohibited government from taking property w/o just compensation

Basic Ideas of Colonial Governments

A governor Appointed by the Crown

A council Advised the governor

An assembly or legislature Elected by the people Most were bicameral, like Parliament

Example: House of Burgesses in Virginia

Basic Ideas of Colonial Governments

Charters offered little detail on colonial gov’ts America was fertile ground for constitution-making

Connecticut set the precedent for a WRITTEN constitution Fundamental Orders, 1639

Basic Principles of Colonial Governments

Fundamental rightsRule of lawRepresentative government & the right to

vote Voting requirements:

White, male, land owner (typically 50+ acres)Separation of powers

Legislatures, governors, courts

1. Land ownership was easy

2. Shorter terms for office-holders

3. Direct representation (not “virtual”)

4. Salutary Neglect

*Anything else?

How did colonial governments become more representative than the government in Britain?

Firsts in Colonial America

Colony=Jamestown, VA, 1607African slaves arrive=VA, 1619First written framework for

government=Mayflower Compact, 1620Representative assembly=House of Burgesses, VA,

1619Written constitution in North

America=Fundamental Orders of Connecticut, 1639

First written bill of rights=Massachusetts Body of Liberties, 1641

PP. 43-48, WE THE PEOPLE

The Road to Revolution

1763

End of French & Indian War England left in debt

Proclamation Line Trying to prevent future conflicts

End of Salutary Neglect

1765

Stamp Act GB needs revenue to pay off war debt

Quartering ActSons of Liberty & Daughters of Liberty

created

1766

Stamp Act repealed Ineffective/ignored

Declaratory Act passed Asserted GB’s full power & authority

1767

Townshend Revenue Acts Lead, glass, paint, paper, tea

Boycotts led by Daughters of Liberty

1770

Townshend Acts repealedBoston “Massacre”

Massacre?

1773

Tea ActBoston Tea Party

1774

Intolerable/Coercive Acts Closed Boston Harbor & ends MA’s colonial charter

1st Continental Congress

1775

Battle of Lexington/Concord “Shot heard round the world”

2nd Continental Congrss

1776

Thomas Paine’s Common SenseRichard Henry Lee’s resolutionDeclaration of Independence

Penned by Jefferson