Transcript Self_Government_1.2.. updated

Early
Foundations
of Law and
Government
EARLY FOUNDATIONS
Magna Carta: (Great Charter)
Written in 1215,
limited the power of the King
-Sets up foundation for limited
government- government must follow
the law
*What does that mean for the kings/queens?
Enlightenment Philosophers
•
John Locke: Natural Rights, Social
Contract
•
Voltaire: Freedom of Speech, and
Separation of Church and State
•
Montesquieu: Separation of Powers
•
Rousseau: Egalitarianism, Social
Contract
(Humans will destroy themselves if they don’t give up some freedoms)
ENLIGHTENMENT
PHILOSOPHERS
Voltaire said:
“I may not agree with
what you say, but I
will defend to the
death your RIGHT to
say it.”
VIEW
Believed too much power in one
place is dangerous for others
Introduced “Separation of Powers”
between branches of government
Ex: England’s Government
King-enforced laws
Parliament-made laws
Judges-interpreted laws
Ideas of the enlightenment
•
Social contract theory: says
that government comes from the
consent of the governed.
• *People agree to have a government as long as it
does not violate their rights and freedoms.
In return they agreed to
follow the law of the
contract…
Ideas continued
•
Natural rights:
Rights
that are so basic that they
cannot be taken away.
(you are born with them)
• -John Locke- Life, LIBERTY ,AND PROPERTY
• -OUR VERSION- LIFE LIBERTY AND THE PURSUIT OF
HAPPINESS
More ideas
Egalitarianism:
 The spread of equality
○ This is the thought that all
men are created
equal. (from what document does this come from?)
○ The enlightenment thinkers used this concept to mold
the representative governments in which the
government comes from the consent of the governed.
○ Which philosopher promoted this idea?
Mayflower compact
•
•
Social contract of the Pilgrims.
Created in 1620
– Became the foundation of law at the Plymouth
colony in Massachusetts
House of Burgesses
•
Established in Jamestown, VA in 1619
• first representative
governing body In the New
World.
• (what does that mean?... Representative governing body)

What is significant about Jamestown?
House of Burgesses
NAVIGATION ACTS
Passed in the 1660,
restricted the trade of goods
to anyone other than
England. This created a
FAVORABLE BALANCE OF
TRADE for England.
England is Exporting (selling) more
goods than it is importing
(buying)
What economic philosophy helped
keep a favorable balance of
trade for England?
French & Indian War
•
War between the British and French (French &
Indians alligned) over control of the colonies
•
Between 1754 & 1763, the British
government started taxing the
colonists to help pay for the war.
• Spawned a period of *Salutary Neglect between
England and the Colonies
• England was so concerned with the war that they
left the colonies alone to govern themselves. They did
not try to regain control until after the war was
over.
Proclamation of 1763
– British passed this statement that
prohibited Colonists from moving
West of the Appalachian Mountains.
– Red line is proclamation line
Stamp Act
Passed in 1765
• First Act passed against the colonies
• Placed a tax on ALL materials
printed on paper (newspapers, pamphlets,
•
cards etc.)
– All printed matter had to have a special
stamp on it to show the tax had been paid.
– In response to this tax, many colonists
cried for “no taxation without
representation” (representation where?)
– MAJOR REASON FOR THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR!!!!
Boston Massacre Background
1770
•
By the late 1700’s the British government was
very alarmed by colonial protests.
•
Britain sent regiments of soldiers (4,000) to keep
order.
•
Colonists provoked a British regiment, and
they killed five colonists.
•
As word spread through the colonies, it
became known as the
•
Boston Massacre, a violent
confrontation between British soldiers
and colonists.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QBd7yNimpE&feature=grec_index
More on the Boston
Massacre…
People in Boston were not happy with witnessing soldier life and they were not
happy that many of the soldiers tried to supplement their income by taking jobs
down on the dock leaving fewer jobs for the colonists.
One night the tension escalated and a group of people began throwing snowballs
and heckling soldiers in the town square, soon a large crowd had gathered and in
the commotion of pushing and shoving at each other one of the soldiers was
knocked to the ground.
Shots were fired and in the end five colonists were killed. The dead became
martyrs for the cause and the Boston press hailed the incident a massacre.
Reaction was so intense that the army was moved to an island in the Boston
Harbor. The soldiers were later put on trial with John Adams as their attorney and
were found not guilty.
However, reaction from the colonists was strong. They were now convinced that the
army would turn on them and tensions would increase!
Protest against Britain...
Boston Tea Party
Parliament passed the Tea Act in the hopes of compromising with the colonist.
The Tea Act said that Americans could only buy their tea from the East India
Company (a British tea company).
The company would sell the tea cheaper than it could purchased from anyone
else and the government would still be able to collect some revenue. However,
colonists did not like the idea of any tax levied by Parliament, they did not like
being told who to buy tea from and they did not like that American tea merchants
were being put out of business. In Philly and New York when the ships arrived,
they refused to allow them to dock and sent them back to England.
Boston Tea Party – December 16, 1773
In Boston, the Royal Governor refused to allow the ships to be turned away from
the Boston Harbor. So, the colonists refused to unload the tea and so for a few
nights the ships sat in the harbor. One evening a group of men dressed as
Mohawk Indians boarded the boat and threw the tea overboard to protest the
Tea Act.
What is a Protest? What are some different
British response to Boston
Tea Party
•
Intolerable Acts (Coercive Acts): 1774
• Passed to punish the colonists for the
Boston tea party.
• Made colonists pay back the lost tea
• Implemented the quartering Act
• Closed the Boston harbour
• Stopped town meetings.
”The able Doctor, or
America Swallowing the
Bitter Draught
This British cartoon
depicting the Intolerable
Acts as an assault upon a
Native American woman
(a symbol of the American colonies)
was copied and
distributed throughout the
thirteen colonies.
QUARTERING ACT
•Established in 1765
•Under this act, if asked,
colonists were required
by law to provide
temporary housing and
food to British soldiers.
•The
colonists
considered this an
unwanted intrusion of
their privacy
COLONIAL RESPONSE= UNITE

Appealed to the King
about the taxation,
intolerable acts and lack
of representation

Drafted the declaration of
independence.
 Delegates urged each colony to

*agreed to meet again in 1775 if conditions did not
improve. 
First Continental
Congress - 1774
set up and train its own militia.
Second Continental
Congress - 1775
King George responded
to the requests of the
delegates with military
force!
 The 1st two battles of the
Revolutionary War took
place in April, 1775 in
Lexington and Concord,
Massachusetts.



Head of Army: George
Washington
1st battle=Breed’s Hill
(located in Charlestowne, Mass.)

Colonial Army had 400
soldiers vs. more than
1,000 British troops
 COLONIAL ARMY
WINS!!!
KING’S RESPONSE TO
COLONISTS?
THE FACTS OF WHAT
TOOK PLACE…
Declaration of
Independence
•
•
Signed July 4, 1776 by second
continental congress
Explained why the American Colonies were
separating from Great Britain
– Listed many abuses the colonies suffered
under the British king
John Hancock of Massachusetts was the first to put
his name down. He did it with a big, bold signature,
"so the king doesn't have to put his glasses on," he
said.
Fifty-six men signed their names on the Declaration of
Independence.
4 parts to the Declaration
of Independence
1. Preamble (purpose)
Introduction
Explanation of Separation from England
2. Declaration of Rights
General theories of Government
People are born with Natural Rights
Origin of government was a social contract
3. Grievances
**Largest Section
Charges against King George III
4. Declaration of Independence
Goal was to preserve peace, but forced towards independence
DECLARATION OF
INDEPENDENCE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrvpZxMf
HBO: John Adams – Congress
approves the DOI.
Other Causes/Influences of the
American Revolution

Common Sense- Written by Thomas
Paine arguing for independence.
Writs of Assistance- Search warrants
that allowed soldiers to search whatever,
whenever they wanted.
*

what specifically did British soldiers want to search?
Propaganda poster depicting the tar
and feathering of the British
Commissioner of Customs John
Malcolm in 1774.
Describe what you see in this picture.
What does it mean? Propaganda…?
•
Thomas Jefferson knew just what to
say, and he said it in a way that
inspired people all over the world.
"We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all
men are created equal; that they are endowed by
their Creator with certain unalienable Rights;
that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit
of happiness; that to secure these rights,
governments are instituted among men, deriving
their just powers from the consent of the
governed".
Thinking point:
*This will be an example of an excerpt on the test. You will have to read this passage. What
enlightenment term is it trying to express? What philosopher is it referring to?
FIRST PROJECT
Create a timeline
• Must include important documents,
ideas, Acts and people (using notes from objective
•
1.02 – Landmark documents)
•
Use as many pictures and creative
ideas as possible to represent ideas in
your timeline.
– How can you make your timeline original
and different from what we think of as a
timeline?
•
•
Must be in order (chronologically)
start at 1215 – 1776 (what is everything
that falls in between?)
You can use your notes, book, online resources etc.