Chapter 2
Historical Roots of
American Government
Basic Concepts of Government
► Name
some basic human rights and
freedoms.
► Where did you get your ideas?
► We are going to discuss where Americans
got their ideas about people’s political rights
and freedoms.
3 Characteristics of Government
1. Ordered Gov.
Colonist knew orderly regulation was needed; as in England, they
created local governments
2. Limited Gov.
Government should not be all powerful and has limits
it can do; individuals have guaranteed rights
to what
3. Representative Gov.
Government should serve the will of the people; should represent
the people’s best interests; people need a voice (elect
representatives)
Leading Up to the Declaration
►The
Magna Carta
(1215)
Leading Up to the Declaration
►The
Magna Carta
(1215)
 First document to
ever limit the
power of a king
 Guaranteed some
rights of citizens
– king could not
punish someone
without jury trial
Petition of Right
► Limits
the king’s power
► King could no longer imprison or punish any
person but by the lawful judgment of his
peers, or by the law of the land
► king could not require homeowners to
shelter the troops
► king must also obey law of the land
The English Bill of Rights
► Prohibited
a standing army in peacetime
► required elections be free
► taxing without government permission is not
allowed
► guarantees the right to a fair trial
► freedom from excessive bail and cruel and
unusual punishment
The English Colonies
► The
13 colonies were established on the basis of a
charter (a written grant of authority from the king)
► 1. Royal Colonies – under direct control of the
Crown. Laws passed through the Crown
► 2. Proprietary Colonies - these colonies were
organized by a proprietor (person who the king
gave the land). Laws passed through the Crown
► 3. The Charter Colonies – self-governing (if other
colonies were set up this way, the Revolution
might never have occurred)
Leading Up to the Declaration
► John
Locke’s 2nd
Treatise on
Government
 Natural Rights –
men had rights
given to them by
God before
governments were
ever created.
John Locke
Leading Up to the Declaration
► Man’s
natural
rights are:
 LIFE
 LIBERTY
 PROPERTY
 Government’s
purpose is to
protect these,
not take them
away!
John Locke
Britain Messes with the Colonies
►The
Stamp Act 1765
 Required every published piece of
paper to receive a British stamp of
approval, and pay a tax with it
 True intention was likely to stop
colonists from publishing essays and
newspapers critical of Britain’s
government
Colonial Unity
►Stamp
Act Congress (1765)
 9 colonies joined together to
protest England’s Stamp Act, and
England repealed it
Colonial Unity
► First
Continental Congress (1774)
 Trying to repair relationship with Britain even
after new law were in effect (we called them
Intolerable Acts)
 Sent a “Declaration of Rights and Grievances”
to the king, boycotted trade with England
Colonial Unity
► Second
Continental Congress (1775-1781)
 Trying to defeat Britain
 Convened in the middle of the Revolutionary
War
 Our nation’s first national government
Colonial Unity
► Second
Continental Congress (1775)
 Elected George Washington Commander-inChief of the Army
 Second Continental Congress was in effect
from Declaration of Independence 1776 to
Article of Confederation 1781
The Declaration of
Independence
July 4th, 1776
by Thomas Jefferson
Jefferson Explains the Trouble With
Writing This Thing:
Fundamentals of the Declaration
►Men
have inalienable natural rights
►Governments exist by the consent of
the governed
►Abusive governments can be replaced
State Constitutions
► Many
states adopted written constitutions –
bodies of fundamental laws setting out the
principles, structures, and processes of their
government.
► Common features include:




popular sovereignty
limited government
civil rights and liberties
separation of powers and checks and balances
Our First Government
►The
Articles of
Confederation
 A huge
mistake, but a
good learning
experience
The Articles of Confederation
The Articles of Confederation
►Was
not a strong national
government
►Rather, it was a “firm league of
friendship” between 13
independent states
Weaknesses of the Articles
of Confederation (pg. 45)
►National
Government could not:
 Collect Taxes
 Regulate Trade Between States
 Create a Court System
 Use Troops Without Permission
from the States
Problems with the Articles
►As
a result:
 States never sent the
government any money
 States boycotted each other’s
goods and currency
 States made trade agreements
with foreign countries
Features of the Articles Government
►Legislative
Branch (Congress)
 Unicameral (One House)
 States could send as many or as few
Reps. as they wanted
 Each state gets 1 vote regardless of
number of Reps.
 Any change to the Articles required
approval of all 13 states
Features of the Articles Government
►Executive
Branch
 No national executive branch
 All executive and judicial powers
were given to the states
Problems Lead to the Need for a
Change:
The Constitutional
Convention
May 25th to September 17th, 1787
The Constitutional Convention
►Original
purpose was to slightly
edit the Articles of Confederation
►What ended up happening was a
secret meeting where the Founding
Fathers created a brand new
government
The Framers
► Who
were the Framers (Writers)?
 A gathering of 55 of the most brilliant
minds in history?
 Most were in their 30’s and 40’s
 All upper class, well educated, white
males
►Middle and lower classes, women and
racial minorities were not given the
opportunity to participate
 Most famous names : George
Washington, James Madison, Ben
Franklin, Alexander Hamilton
The Framers: Demi-Gods?
►The
Framers are really
just men – or
“politicians,” even
►They are fighting with
one another on every
issue, and forming
compromises to
resolve the fights
The Framers
►James
Madison
becomes known as
the “Father of the
Constitution,” as
he became the
leader of the
convention, and
Mack Daddy
did much of the
James Madison
writing
Two Competing Ideas
►The
Virginia Plan
 The “Big State Plan”
 3 Branches – Legislative, Executive,
Judicial, each with checks and balances
against the others
 Bicameral legislature with
representation based on population
alone
Two Competing Ideas
►The
New Jersey Plan
 The “Small State Plan”
 Unicameral legislature with all
states represented equally
 Executive would be three
presidents, who chose the
Judicial branch
►The
Compromises
Connecticut
Compromise
 “The Great
Compromise”
 Bicameral
legislature, one
house based on
population, one
on equality
How the Great Compromise Works
State
Population
# in House # in Senate
California
35 million
53
2
Arizona
5 million
8
2
Wyoming
0.5 million
1
2
Compromises
►The
3/5ths Compromise
 Southern states wanted
to count slaves as part of
their populations to get
more votes in Congress
 Compromise allowed
them to count slaves as
3/5ths of a person in the
census
 *Note* - slaves did NOT
get 3/5ths of a vote!
Compromises
►The
Commerce and Slave Trade
Compromise
 Southern states feared that slavery
would be banned by more heavily
populated Northern states in Congress
 Compromise prevented Congress from
acting on the matter of slave trade for
at least 20 years
Sources of the Constitution
►Framers
pulled from a number of places
to get the final product:
 Ancient Greece’s Democracy and
Rome’s Republic
 John Locke’s 2nd Treatise on
Government
 Charles de Montesquieu’s ideas about
separating the powers of government
 Great Britain’s government
New Constitution
British Government
Bicameral Legislature
(House and Senate)
Bicameral Legislature (House
of Lords and Commons)
Strong Executive
(President)
Strong Executive (King)
Supreme Court System
Federal Government
Royal Court System
Federal Relationship w/
Colonies
Articles of Confederation
Unicameral Legislature
No Executive
No Court System
Confederation of States
Ratifying the Constitution
►Ratify
– vote on
and pass
►Constitution
required that 9
of the 13 states
needed to
approve it to
take effect
Did someone say
“Rat”ify?
Federalists vs. Anti-Federalists
►Federalists
– favored ratification of
the Constitution and a new federal
government
►Anti-Federalists - opposed the new
Constitution on almost all grounds
 Especially wanted to add a bill of
rights
Federalists vs. Anti-Federalists
►
Famous Federalists: James
Madison, Alexander
Hamilton, John Jay,
George Washington
 Madison, Hamilton, and
Jay write The Federalist
Papers – persuasive
essays to explain why
the new Constitution
can be effective and
preserve personal
liberty
Federalists vs. Anti-Federalists
► Famous
AntiFederalists: Patrick
Henry, Richard Henry
Lee, Samuel Adams,
John Hancock