AOB Resource 3C
Matrix and English Influences on American Government and Social Contract
Directions: For each document or event listed in the first column, please give a description of the document/event, its relation to the
social contract, and your thoughts on its influence on American government.
English/Colonial
Influences
Magna Carta
Rights of
Englishmen
Massachusetts
Constitution
Articles of
Confederation
Quartering Act
Tea Acts
Intolerable Acts
Description of
Document/Event
Relation to
Social Contract
Influence on American
Government
AOB Resource 3C
Matrix and English Influences on American Government and Social Contract
Suggestion Guide – This is not designed to be comprehensive but rather a guide for student responses.
English/Colonial
Influences
Magna Carta
Description of Document/Event



Rights of
Englishmen


Massachusetts
Constitution



Articles of
Confederation


Relation to
Social Contract
Latin: Great Charter.
The Magna Carta was sealed by King
John of England June 15, 1215.
He made promises that he would
govern England and deal with his
vassals according to the customs of
feudal law.

Rights of Englishmen were a series
of written and unwritten fundamental
and basic rights of English citizens.
These rights were fundamental to
both the people of England and to the
colonists living in North America.
These rights were derived from a number of
different documents including the:
 Magna Carta (1215)
 Petition of Right (1628)
 English Bill of Rights (1689), and other
acts of the Monarchy and Parliament
This is the oldest functioning
constitution in the world.
It was written by John Adams,
Samuel Adams, and James Bowdoin
in 1780.
It is different from the US
constitution in that it endorses the
Christian religion and provides direct
funding to church related activities.
The Articles of Confederation was
the first constitution of the United
States (1781 – 1788).
The Massachusetts Constitution contains a:
 Declaration of rights,
 Listing of governmental powers and a
series of Articles of Amendment.
The Articles were written by a
Committee of the Second Continental
Congress.

Magna Carta established that no person
not even the king is above the law.
Government must follow its own laws
in dealing with its citizens just as
citizens must obey the law.
The Articles created a loose confederation
of independent states that gave limited
powers to a central government. The
national government would consist of a
single house of Congress, where each state
would have one vote. Congress had the
power to set up a postal department, to raise
armed forces, and to control the
development of the western territories.
Influence on American Government

Contains 63 clauses that established equal
access to courts, trial by jury of peers, and
due process of law.
Many rights U.S. citizens enjoy today were
initially considered to be Rights of an
Englishmen:
 The right to Habeas Corpus
 The right to petition the government
 The right to bear arms
 Freedom from excessive bail and cruel
punishment
 Taxation could not occur without
Parliament’s consent
 Protected citizens from arbitrary arrest
It includes provisions that were later included in
the US constitution including:
 The division of the Legislature amongst the
Senate and house of Representatives.
 It also lists basic human rights and the
establishment of a court system
Because of the Articles, the U.S. government
could not regulate trade and levy taxes, sates
often refused to give the government the money
it needed so the government could not pay off
the debts it had incurred during the revolution.
Congress could not pass needed measures
because they lacked the nine-state majority
required to become laws.
Due to these problems a Constitutional
AOB Resource 3C
Matrix and English Influences on American Government and Social Contract
With the consent of nine of the thirteen
states, Congress could also appropriate
money as well as declare war and enter into
treaties and alliances with foreign nations.
The reaction of the colonists to the
Quartering Act was largely negative and
was rooted in two issues: A fear of a
standing army and the cost of the soldiers’
expenses. The colonists preferred to rely on
militia that could be called to service during
a crisis due to their expediency and low
cost.
Convention was held in 1787 to revise the
Articles and ultimately led to their dismissal and
the adoption of the U.S. Constitution.
When a shipment of tea arrived in Boston,
radical Patriots led by Samuel Adams prevented
its unloading. When Governor Hutchinson
refused to permit the tea to be re-exported, the
Patriots, many disguised as Native Americans,
threw the cargo overboard in the so-called
Boston Tea Party in December 1773. The
Boston Tea Party served to further unite
colonists and was one of the primary causes of
the American Revolution.
These acts plainly violated many rights colonists
believed they had as English citizens, including
the right to assemble, the right to property, and
the right to equal protection under the law.
Resentment of these acts contributed to the
creation of the First Continental Congress and
ultimately to the outbreak of the American
Revolution in 1775.
Quartering Act
The Quartering Act of 1765 forced
American colonists to provide food,
shelter, and other amenities to British
forces stationed in the colonies. The
British insisted that this Act would
protect the colonies from attack from the
French and Native Americans; however,
tax-weary Englishmen demanded that this
be done at a decreased cost.
Tea Acts
The Tea Act of 1773 was an act of British
Parliament backed by Lord North to lend
a hand the struggling East India
Company. The Act eliminated most
customs duties on tea from the Company
making it cheaper than the smuggled
Dutch tea most colonists drank.
The Tea Act created a monopoly where one
British company controlled the entire
supply of tea to the colonies. This uneven
distribution of taxes and Parliamentary
protection struck colonists as both unfair
and dismissive of their rights as
Englishmen.
Intolerable
Acts
The Intolerable Acts of 1774 (also known
as the Coercive Acts) were four laws
passed by the British Parliament in
response to the Boston Tea Party.
The Intolerable Acts, were intended to
punish the colony of Massachusetts for
destroying tea that belonged to the East
India Company and to show the other
American colonies what might happen if
they disobeyed British policies.
The Intolerable acts were swift and severe.
 First, the Boston Port Act closed the
port of Boston to all trade until the
destroyed tea was paid for.
 Second, the Massachusetts Government
Act revoked the colony’s charter and
forbade town meetings.
 Third, the expanded Quartering Act
required the colonists to provide
quarters for British soldiers.

Fourth, the Impartial Administration of
Justice Act removed British officials
from the jurisdiction of Massachusetts
Courts and placed them in British
Courts.
Other more radical colonists believed that the
only purpose of the Quartering Act was to allow
the British Crown to spy on the colonists and
keep them from creating a more democratic
society. It was also a clear violation of the
colonists’ property rights. This was an early
example of the British Parliament making
decisions for the colonies without hearing the
colonists’ concerns.