Chapter 2
Origins of American
Government
Section 1: Our Political
Beginnings
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Early settlers brought their own political ideas
& practices with them to the American
colonies
Ordered Government
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Limited Government
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Need for order
Local governments created
Government is not all-powerful
Representative Government
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Government should serve the will of the people
People should have a say in their government
Landmark English
Documents
 Magna
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Carta, 1215
Document signed by the King limiting the
power of the monarchy
Arbitrary taking of life, liberty or property
Originally only intended to protect the
wealthy, eventually extended to all
P. 33
video
 Petition
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of Right, 1628
Limited King’s power
Required a jury of peers for imprisonment or
punishments
Challenged the idea of Divine Right of Kings
King’s had to obey the law of the land
 English
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Bill of Rights, 1689
Glorious Revolution
 Peaceful
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change in English Monarch
Prohibited a standing army in times of
peace, except with consent of Parliament
All Parliamentary elections be free
Levying of money only through consent of
Parliament
Guarantees:
 Fair
trial
 No cruel & unusual punishment
 Freedom from excessive bail
English Colonies
 Charter
 Proprietary
 Royal
Section 2: The Coming of
Independence
 British
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colonial practices
Colonies mostly left to govern themselves
This changed when King George came to
the throne in 1760
Dealt more firmly with the colonies
Imposed new taxes
No taxation without representation
 Early
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attempts of colonial unity
New England Confederation, 1643
 League
of friendship for defense against
Native Americans
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Albany Plan of Unity, 1754
 Northern
colonies to discuss problems of trade
 Not well attended
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Stamp Act Congress, 1765
 Representatives
from 9 colonies met and
prepared Declaration of Rights & Grievances
against new British policies and sent to the
King
 Organized boycotts
First Continental Congress
 1774
 Representatives
from 12 colonies met to
discuss the worsening situation and
debated plans for action
Second Continental Congress
 May
1775 (Lexington & Concord April)
 Representatives from all 13 colonies met
 John Hancock chosen president, George
Washington chosen commander in chief
Declaration of Independence
 Written
mainly by Thomas Jefferson and
edited by Benjamin Franklin
 Officially claimed independence from
Britain
 Adopted on July 4, 1776
 Frist paragraph states independence
 Almost 2/3 of the document lists the
complaints against the King
 Signers committed TREASON
 When
in the Course of human events, it
becomes necessary for one people to
dissolve the political bands which have
connected them with another, and to
assume among the powers of the earth,
the separate and equal station to which
the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God
entitle them, a decent respect to the
opinions of mankind requires that they
should declare the causes which impel
them to the separation.
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We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created
equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain
unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the
pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are
instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of
the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes
destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to
abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on
such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them
shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.
Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established
should not be changed for light and transient causes; and
accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more
disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right
themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.
But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably
the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute
Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such
Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.-Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such
is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former
Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great
Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in
direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these
States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.
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We, therefore, the Representatives of the united
States of America, in General Congress, Assembled,
appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the
rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by
Authority of the good People of these Colonies,
solemnly publish and declare, That these United
Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and
Independent States; that they are Absolved from all
Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political
connection between them and the State of Great
Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that
as Free and Independent States, they have full
Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract
Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other
Acts and Things which Independent States may of
right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with
a firm reliance on the protection of divine
Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our
Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor
State Constitutions
 Wrote
state constitutions
 Massachusetts has the oldest state
constitution written in 1780
 Common features:
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Popular sovereignty
Limited government
Civil rights & liberties
Checks & balances
Declaration of Independence
 Read
p. 40-43
 Answer questions on pg 43
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Comprehension 1-5
Critical Thinking 6-8
Section 3: The Critical Period
 Articles
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of Confederation
approved by 2nd Continental Congress
November 1777, Ratified by last state
March 1781
Established a firm league of friendship
States retained equal power with Federal
Gov
Governmental structure
 Unicameral
Congress (states had 1 vote)
 No executive or judicial
 Congress would choose a presiding officer
 Powers
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of Congress
Make war & peace
Send & receive ambassadors
Make treaties
Borrow money
Set up money system
Establish post offices
Build a navy
Raise an army by asking states for troops
Fix uniform weights & measures
Settle disputes between states
 States
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obligations
Pledge to obey Articles & acts of Congress
Provide funds and troops requested by
Congress
Treat citizens of others states fairly & equally
Give full faith & credit to public acts,
records and judicial proceedings of other
states
Surrender fugitives to one another
Allow open trade and travel
Retained any powers not explicitly given to
Congress
STRENGTHS
•Brought the states together
•Was able to raise an army and navy
•Set up a postal system
•Congress was established
•Make war and peace
•Print money
WEAKNESESS
•No national executive
•No national court system
•National government
could not collect taxes.
•National Government
could not raise an army.
•National Government
could not regulate trade.
Critical Period, 1780s
 Revolutionary
War ended with the Treaty
of Paris 1783
 Weakness of Articles led to problems
between the states that Congress
couldn’t solve
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Taxed each other’s goods
Printed own money
Debts went unpaid
 Shay’s
Rebellion
Need for Stronger Government
 Meetings
to discuss the problems started
as early as 1785
 Philadelphia Convention
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Purpose was to rewrite/revise the Articles
Became Constitutional Convention when
attendees didn’t revise Articles, but wrote a
whole new constitution
Section 4: Creating the Constitution
 The
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Framers
12 of 13 states attended (Rhode Island)
55 delegates
Well-educated, respected men
Elected George Washington president of
convention
Met in secret
 Why?

James Madison “Father of the Constitution”
Virginia Plan
3
branches (executive, legislative, judicial)
 Bicameral Congress
 Representation based on population
 Lower house, House of Representatives,
chosen by popular election
 Upper house, Senate, chosen by House
from a list of candidates provided by
states’ legislatures
 Added powers beyond those in the
Articles
New Jersey Plan
 Unicameral
Congress
 Equal representation from all states
 Added limited powers to tax and regulate
trade between states
 Federal executive (more than one
person), chose by Congress
Connecticut Compromise
 Bicameral
legislature
 Senate - equal representation (2)
 House of Representatives – representation
determined by populations
 Also called the Great Compromise
3/5 Compromise
 Should
slaves be counted for population
 Each slave be counted as 3/5 of a free
person
 Count for representation & taxation
purposes
Commerce & Slave Trade
Compromise
 Southern
states worried that northern
states would interfere with the slave trade
 This compromise forbade Congress the
power to act on the slave trade for at
least 20 years
 Slave trade will be outlawed in 1808
 “Bundle
of Compromises”
Section 5: Ratifying the
Constitution
 Ratification
of 9 states required
 Debate over ratification
 Federalists – favored ratification

James Madison, Alexander Hamilton
 Anti-Federalists
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– opposed ratification
Patrick Henry, John Hancock, Samuel
Adams
Biggest complaints: increased powers by
central government & no bill of rights
 New
York chosen as temporary capital
 George Washington elected 1st president
 John Adams elected 1st vice president
 Assignment:

Chapter Review p. 60-61
11-14, 18, 20-22, 25-29, 34-35