The Founding of the
United States
The Colonial Experience
 Roots of American Government
 Moving Toward Nationhood
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The Colonial Experience – Vocab.
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Heritage: traditions passed down from
generation to generation
Legislature: a group of people elected to make
laws
Charter: a document giving permission to a
group of people to start a government
Tyranny: abuse of power
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A Voice in Government
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Citizens of the colonies (called
colonists) had a limited voice
in government
Each colony could elect its own
legislature
However, England had final
authority over the colonies
English Governors (chosen by
King George) could reject laws
passed the colonial legislatures
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Citizenship in the Colonies
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Only white men who owned
land were considered full
citizens
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Only these people were
allowed to vote
Citizens in those days were
expected to participate in
government and promote the
common good of society
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Roots of Freedom – Religious Freedom
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Roger Williams founded The Colony of Rhode
Island in 1636.
He proclaimed Rhode Island to be a place where
anybody could worship any religion they wanted.
Soon other colonies followed his example in
allowing of “religious freedom”
However to many of the colonists religious
freedom meant any kind of Christianity was
acceptable, not other religions.
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Roots of Freedom – Freedom of the Press
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Freedom of the Press – the right of newspapers to
print the truth, even if it makes the government look
bad – did not exist
Zenger Case – early court trial won by colonist John
Peter Zenger against the English Governor of New
York. Zenger had printed an article accusing the
governor of tyranny.
The Zenger case inspired colonists to want freedom
of the press
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Roots of American Government
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Direct Democracy: a government where laws are
made directly by the people
Republic: A government where people elect people
to make laws for them
Natural Rights: Rights that no government should be
able to take away (life, liberty, property/pursuit of
happiness)
Separation of Powers: Government power is divided
into 3 branches (executive, legislative, judicial) so
no branch become too powerful
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Roots of American Government
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Each of the following contributed something to the
ideas our founding fathers used in our Declaration
of Independence and our Constitution!
1.
Ancient Greece
Ancient Rome
Magna Carta
English Bill of Rights
John Locke & Montesquieu
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3.
4.
5.
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Looking to Ancient Greece
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Ancient Greece
Invented democracy –
the idea that people
should be able to
control their
government
Direct Democracy was
the kind of democracy
that was used in
Ancient Greece
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Looking to Ancient Rome
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The Romans decided that
direct democracy wouldn’t
work when a country was
too big
They invented the
republic – a government
where people are elected
to make laws for society
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The English Tradition
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Originally the King ruled all.
Over time the Magna Carta
and the English Bill of
Rights took power away
from the King and gave it to
the English people
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Magna Carta
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First time King’s power
was limited.
This document limited
the King’s Power and
gave some rights to the
nobles (rich people)
Rights included the right
to travel freely and the
right to a fair trial
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English Bill of Rights
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This document extended the
rights in the Magna Carta to
ALL English citizens (not just
nobles)
It also added some more rights:
The King could no longer stop
free speech in parliament and
parliament had to approve of all
tax increases.
Parliament is England’s
legislature. Our legislature is
called CONGRESS
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John Locke and Montesquieu
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The colonial leaders looked to great
philosophers to help them decided what
kind of government they should make
John Locke provided the theory of
natural rights.
Montesquieu provided the theory of the
separation of powers.
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Quick Quiz
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
What are natural rights?
What is the Separation of Powers?
What was the English Bill of Rights?
What was the Magna Carta?
Who is John Locke and what theory did he propose?
Who was Montesquieu and what theory did he
propose?
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Moving Toward Nationhood
Vocabulary
 Constitution: A plan for government. The
rules for how a government works.
 Ratification: Agreement to something or
approval of something
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England vs. The Colonies
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Many colonists started to become more and
more frustrated with their treatment under
English rule
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Unfairly imposed and high taxes
Unreasonable searches in homes
England only let the colonies trade with England
Not full freedom of the press and speech
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No Taxation without Representation
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Parliament (The English legislature) had to
pay off war debt and raised trade taxes on the
colonies.
Colonists were furious:
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Why should they be taxed by a parliament in
which they had no representation?
“No taxation without representation” became a
battle cry for independence.
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Declaration of Independence
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In the Second Continental
Congress (gathering of
representatives from all colonies)
the representatives voted for
independence.
Some colonists were afraid of
independence
The representatives wrote the
declaration to explain to ALL
why the United States should be
free!
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Organizing a New Government
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The Colonies became the
States.
Each State had their own State
Constitution
The Country needed a
constitution for the national
government
In 1777 the Continental
Congress (the temporary
national government) created
the Articles of Confederation
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Articles of Confederation
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The U.S.’s first National Constitution
Only created one branch of government (legislative)
Created a very weak national government
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The government couldn’t settle disputes (problems)
between the states
The government had no taxing authority over the states
The government had no ability to make treaties or deal
with foreign countries in a unified voice
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The Constitution of the U.S.
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Because the Articles of Confederation… were too
weak for the national gov. to function many leaders
came together to make a new constitution.
They called it… The Constitution of the United States
of America
It called for three branches each containing its own
powers with ways to balance the powers of the other
two branches and a bill of rights protect citizens from
specific government tyranny!
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Constitution of the United States
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Quick Quiz
1.
2.
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4.
5.
6.
What was the Declaration of Independence?
What was the Articles of Confederation?
Why was it weak?
What were some reasons the colonists were
frustrated?
What are the three branches of government and what
does each one do?
What does our constitution have to protect citizens
from government tyranny?
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