Label Your Foldable:
Magna
Carta
Mayflower
Compact
English Bill
of Rights
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Common
Sense
Inspiration for a New Nation
• Where did the colonists and the Founding
Fathers get their ideas about our government?
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Magna Carta
This was the first example
of limited government.
Specifically, a limited monarchy
Why is the concept of “limited government” important?
What would a government without limits be like?
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The Magna Carta also addressed the
“Rule of Law”
• What do you think “Rule of Law”
means?
– No one – not the King, the President,
celebrities, you, the teacher, the
principal – is above the law.
RULE OF LAW
– Everyone is equal under the law
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Magna Carta
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Mayflower Compact
• Written aboard the Mayflower
in 1620 before the ship landed in
Plymouth, Massachusetts in
1620.
• Signed by most passengers on
the voyage
Image from
http://www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/revolution/revgfx
/may-compact.jpg
“…Having undertaken…a Voyage to plant the First Colony in the
Northern parts of Virginia, do by these present solemnly and mutually in
the presence of…one another, Covenant and Combine ourselves
together into a Civil Body Politic, for our better ordering and
preservation…to enact constitute, and frame such just and equal Laws,
Ordinances, Acts, Constitutions, and offices from time to time , as shall
be thought most meet and convenient for the general good of the
colony…”
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Here is a short video about the Mayflower Compact:
Should you experience problems with the video, click HERE.
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Mayflower Compact
This document served as an example of self
government and consent of the governed.
Why would government be
necessary according to the
Mayflower Compact?
Why would the colonists want to
create a document establishing
self government?
“…For our better ordering and
preservation…”
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Magna Carta
Mayflower
Compact
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English Bill of Rights
• Written in 1689 in England
• Authored by members of Parliament (the legislative
branch, or the branch that makes laws)
• This document established a limited monarchy (king)
and gave more power to Parliament.
That excessive bail ought
not to be required, nor
excessive fines imposed;
nor cruel and unusual
punishments inflicted.
“That the freedom of speech, and debates or
proceedings in parliament, ought not to be
impeached or questioned in any court or
place out of parliament.”
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English Bill of Rights
– The monarchy was not allowed to:
• Collect taxes without consent of Parliament
• Interfere with the right to free speech and debate in
Parliament
• Maintain an army in peace time
• Require excessive bail or cruel punishments for those
accused or convicted of crimes
• Declare laws made by Parliament should not be
obeyed
Here we have another example of limited
government.
Specifically, a limited monarchy
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Also in the English Bill of Rights …
RULE OF LAW
The English Bill of Rights included limits
on the power of the king.
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Magna Carta
Mayflower
Compact
English Bill of
Rights
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“Common Sense”
• Written by Thomas Paine
• Published in 1776
• Challenged the authority of the
British government and the royal
monarchy.
• First work to openly ask for
independence from Great Britain.
• Discussed the purpose of
government and the need for
independence from Great Britain
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Oil painting by Auguste Millière (1880) from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Paine
Common Sense
Society in every state is a blessing, but
Government, even in its best state, is but a
necessary evil…Wherefore, security being
the true design and end of government, it
unanswerably follows that whatever form
thereof appears most likely to ensure it to us,
with the least expense and greatest benefit,
is preferable to all others.
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Magna
Carta
Mayflower
Compact
English Bill of
Rights
Common Sense
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Where did the Articles of Confederation
go Wrong?
• Congress was not given any power to tax the
people
– No taxes=no money to run the country
Make it Modern!
If there was no power to tax (raise money to run the country), what would be
missing in the United States today?
Where did the Articles of Confederation
go Wrong?
• Congress had no power to enforce its own laws
in the states
– No enforcement=people in various states doing what
they want
Make it Modern!
If there was no enforcement of laws, what would the United States be like
today?
Where did the Articles of Confederation
go Wrong?
• Congress could not make states follow trade
agreements with other nations
– Bad trading relations with other counties = no
international trade
Make it Modern!
If no one followed trade agreements with other nations, what would the United
States be like today?
Where did the Articles of Confederation
go Wrong?
• Congress could not regulate trade between
the states.
– High trading taxes between states = difficulty
trading goods = slow business = lost jobs
Make it Modern!
If the government could not regulate trade between the states, what would
state relations be like?
Where did the Articles of Confederation
go Wrong?
• Citizens in states thought their property rights
were being violated
– Violated property rights = need for national
government to check the states
Make it Modern!
If there were no property rights for citizens, what would the United States be like
today?
Click HERE to see how countries
rank in the 2012 International
Property Rights Index
Where did the Articles of Confederation
go Wrong?
• There was no national court system
– No national court system = different systems by state =
confusion in the justice system
– Interstate issues would have no courts to go to on the federal
level
– No means of checking the laws of the legislature
Make it Modern!
If there were no national court system, what would the United States be like
today?
Where did the Articles of Confederation
go Wrong?
• There was no executive branch for the central government
– This means there was no President or party responsible for
enforcing laws; no authority behind the laws
– There was no figure head for the government
– No means of checking the policies created by the legislature (what
happens when all power is in one branch of government?)
Make it Modern!
If there were no executive branch, what would the United States be like today?
Where did the Articles of Confederation
go Wrong?
• It required a unanimous vote to make changes to the Articles
– This made it very difficult to make any changes to the Articles
– Federal laws required that 9 of the 13 states approve a new
law; hard to pass new laws that might be needed.
Make it Modern!
If there were a requirement to reach a unanimous decision to amend the U.S.
Constitution, what would the United States be like today?
Using your copy of the Constitution, read the amendments in the United States
Constitution that would not have been added if there had been a requirement
for a unanimous decision to include that amendment. List 3 Amendments you
think are the most important that have been added since the ratification of the
Constitution and discuss what the United States would be like without those
amendments.
27 Amendments
XV (15)
I (1)
II (2)
III (3)
IV (4)
V (5)
VI (6)
VII (7)
VIII (8)
IX (9)
X (10)
XI (11)
XII (12)
XIII (13)
XIV (14)
freedom of religion, speech, press,
assembly, petition
right to bear arms
quartering of troops
search and seizure
due process, double jeopardy, selfincrimination
jury trial, right to counsel
common law suits
excess bail or fines, cruel and
unusual punishment
rights not named
powers reserved to states
lawsuits against a state
election of president and vice
president
abolition of slavery
due process, equal protection,
privileges of citizens
XVI (16)
XVII (17)
XVIII (18)
XIX (19)
XX (20)
XXI (21)
XXII (22)
XXIII (23)
XXIV (24)
XXV (25)
XXVI (26)
XXVII
(27)
rights not to be denied because
of race
income tax
Direct election of senators
Prohibition (no alcohol)
women's right to vote
presidential term and
succession
repeal of Prohibition
president limited to 2 terms
presidential vote for persons in
D.C.
no poll tax
presidential succession
right to vote at age 18
compensation of members of
Congress
What FOrms of government are
out there?
Exploring Governments Throughout
the World
Where did the Founders get a model
for government?
The Founders modeled our government based
on the Roman Republic.
“Republic” comes from the latin “res publica”
which means thing or property of the people.
So, a republic is a country that has a
government in which power is held by the
people.
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What is a “Democracy”?


Democracy is literally defined as “rule of the people”
This means that a government that takes the form of
a democracy is one in which all citizens can exercise
some kind of political power
 What
are some examples of “political power” citizens
can exercise?
 Voting
 Running
for office
 Contacting public officials
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What kinds of republican government
are there?
• Direct Democracy
– Based on the definition of “democracy” how would
you define a direct democracy?
– Draw a picture to illustrate your definition of direct
democracy!
• Representative Democracy
– What is a “representative”?
• An elected person to act and speak on behalf of others
– Based on the definition of “representative” and
“democracy”, how you would define representative
democracy?
– Draw a picture to illustrate your definition of
representative democracy!
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What is direct democracy?
• Direct democracy is a government where the
people have an individual voice in
government.
Government
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What would you say…
• The advantages are
to direct democracy?

The disadvantages are
to direct democracy?
 Too
many voices at once
 Only works in small
communities
 Not efficient
– Every individual has a
voice in government
– Works well in small
communities.
• If weGovernment
take a vote in
the classroom, we are
acting as a direct
democracy.
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 What
do you mean?
What is the common
• Individual becomes
good?
greater
than the common
good
It is what is best for the
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Common Good
• Common good – good of the community as a
whole
• When do we act in favor of the common good on
a daily basis?
– For example, if I were ordering pizza for the whole
class, would I just order my favorite (and we will
pretend my favorite is anchovies with pineapple)
or would I get something that the class as a whole
would enjoy (like plain cheese or peperoni)?
– Acting in favor of the common good puts the group
before the individual.
• Why is this a good thing?
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What is Representative Democracy?
• Representative democracy is a system where
individuals have a voice in government through
elected representatives
Government
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What would you say…
• The advantages are to
representative democracy?
– Representatives are elected
to represent the common
good instead of individual
interests
– Representatives make the
system more efficient – it’s
their job to know the laws
and the system
– People get a say in
government through
someone elected by the
people
– Works well in large areas
with diverse populations
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
The disadvantages are
to representative
democracy?
 Individuals
must set
aside their private
interests and personal
concerns for the sake of
the whole – some
people are not
comfortable with this
SPEED DATE!
• Everyone stand up.
• Half of the class, go to one side of the room. The
other side of the class, go to the other side.
• Line up facing each other.
• You will have 1 minute each. One side will speak,
the other side will listen only. After one minute,
the other side may speak. You must use the entire
minute to explain your answer!
• After each side has spoken, one line will shift
ONE MINUTE
down one person. The person on the end will go
to the other end of the line.
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Answer this question:
What do you think is
more important:
Individual interests or
the common good?
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So we learned about representative
governments….
What other kinds of governments
are out there?
•
•
•
•
•
•
Direct Democracy
Representative Democracy
Saudi
Communism
Arabia
Monarchy
Oligarchy
North Korea
Autocracy
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Vietnam
As these governments are being
discussed…
• Draw a diagram of the government we are
discussing.
• Think about the definition and illustrate the
definition in a way that makes sense to you.
• Some examples would be the direct
democracy and representative democracy
diagrams:
Government
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Government
Communism
• In a communist government, the
government believes in owning all means
of production and eliminating private
property
– This means that all things are owned by the
government and shared by the people.
– The intention of this system is to ensure that
everyone has equal access and property
• However, this system can become corrupt quickly
with the government removing all rights of the Vietnam
people
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Monarchy
A monarchy has a king, queen,
emperor or empress.
The ruling position can be passed on
to the ruler’s heirs.
In some traditional monarchies, the
monarch has absolute power, like in
Saudi Arabia.
But a constitutional monarchy, like
the United Kingdom, also has a
democratic government that limits
the monarch's control.
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King Abdullah of Saudi
Arabia
Image from the New York Post
Queen Elizabeth II
Oligarchy
 A government in which control is
exercised by a small group of individuals
whose authority generally is based on
wealth or power
 This power may not always be exercised
openly. Oligarchs sometimes prefer to
remain the “power behind the throne.”
 A modern example of oligarchy
could be seen in South Africa during
the 20th century where oligarchy was
based on racism.
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Autocracy
 A government ruled by a
single leader who has
unlimited power and denies
peoples’ fundamental rights.
 In a military dictatorship, the
army is in control. One person
is in charge and often takes
over by force.
 Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini,
Sadam Hussein were
examples
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What Do these
Governments
Look Like?
Communism
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Oligarchy
Government
Government
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Autocracy
Government
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What else is there?
• Another type of government is anarchy.
– Anarchy is when there is a complete breakdown of
government and the people fall into a start of
chaos. There is no organization or control.
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What else is there?
• Socialism is an economic system and political theory
– First, what is an economic system?
– A system of production and consumption of goods and
services of a community
• This includes the wealth and resources of a nation
• The government’s role (or absence of a role) in the regulation
of business and production.
• Socialism is an economic system which
1. Promotes collective or governmental ownership
2. Administration of the means of production and
distribution of goods by government or collective
groups
1.
This results in no free, competitive, private businesses
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