2.0 Vocabulary
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Anti-federalist
Bicameral legislature
Checks & balances
Confederation
Electoral college
Executive agreement
Federal system
Federalist
Great Compromise
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AP PPT 2.1
Judicial review
Madisonian Model
Natural rights
Ratification
Representative assembly
Separation of powers
Social contract
State
Supremacy doctrine
Unicameral legislature
1
Colonial Background
The Constitution
AP PPT 2.1
2
Where did our government come from?
• U.S. Constitution is relatively short.
– 4,543 words with the signatures
– 7,591 with the amendments
• Knowing the historical and political context is
essential to understanding American
government and politics
• Most provisions of the USC are grounded in
the political philosophy of the time.
AP PPT 2.1
3
Jamestown
• First English settlement in North America
– 1607
• Royal charter state, “full power and authority
to make laws for the good and welfare of the
settlement.
• Colonist instituted a representative assembly
– Set precedent for future colonies
AP PPT 2.1
4
Separatists and the Mayflower
• First New England colony
established in 1620
– Destination was Virginia but got
blown off course
• Groups that wished to ‘separate’
from the Church of England
– Landed in Plymouth Massachusetts
– Sought a place to exercise their
religious beliefs
AP PPT 2.1
5
Mayflower Compact
• Groups was outside jurisdiction
of the Virginia Company.
• Agreement among the men on
board to yield to the decisions
of the group.
– Majority rule
– Social contract
• Set forth the idea of consent of
the governed
AP PPT 2.1
6
Pilgrim Beliefs
• Committed themselves to the idea of selfgovernment
• Concept of ‘separation of church and state’
not present
• It was a religious colony – with church
membership a requirement.
AP PPT 2.1
7
More Colonies , More Government
• Colonist made decisions
about internal issues
• Colonies not united as a
group until after First
Continental Congress (1774)
• Each colony was separate
with its own decision making
government.
AP PPT 2.1
8
Politics and Religion
• Declaration of Independence mentions God
but not Christ
• The word “God” doesn’t appear in the USC.
• The founders were devout Christians who
opposed mixing religion and state.
AP PPT 2.1
9
Where do American attitudes about the
religious founding of American come from?
Pope
King
Priests
Nobility
Peasant
Laity (parishioners)
AP PPT 2.1
10
Where do American attitudes about the
religious founding of American come from?
Parishioners
We the People
Enlightenment
Reformation
Government
Ministers
AP PPT 2.1
11
British Restrictions – Colonial Reactions
• 1763 British parliament passed law to treat
colonies as a unit
• Needed to raise revenue to pay for French and
Indian War (1756-1763)
– Seven Years War in Europe
AP PPT 2.1
12
First Continental Congress
• Colonies realized their was power in working
together against Parliament
• Congress wanted to return to pre-French &
Indian status
– Leave us alone to do our thing!
• If Crown and parliament had relented – would
the DI have been needed.
AP PPT 2.1
13
Second Continental Congress
• Struggle had turned into
open rebellion
• Congress established the
militia around Boston as
the Continental Army
– George Washington made
general and Chief
AP PPT 2.1
14
Declaration of Independence
• July 4, 1776
• One of the most important documents in
history
– Statement of Universal truths
– Natural rights (unalienable rights)
• John Locke
– Social Contract
• A voluntary agreement among people to secure their
rights and welfare by creating a government.
AP PPT 2.1
15
Declaration of Independence
• Based on the idea of the ‘consent of the
governed’
– Mayflower Compact
• Government has the responsibility to protect
our rights
– If not, its our right to revolt!
• Significance – established legitimacy of new
nation to the world.
AP PPT 2.1
16
Summary Questions
• Explain how the colonial experience prepared
Americans for independence.
• Describe how the Declaration of
Independence came to be written and the
importance of its second paragraph.
AP PPT 2.1
17