Roots of American
Democracy
Our English Heritage
The English Colonies
New England
Colonies:
• Massachusetts (by the
Pilgrims in 1620)
• Rhode Island
• Connecticut
• New Hampshire
• “Colonial Workshop”
• manufacturing and
shipping center of the
colonies
The English Colonies
The Middle
Colonies:
• New York
• New Jersey
• Pennsylvania
• Delaware
• “Breadbasket”
colonies
The English Colonies
Southern Colonies:
• North Carolina
• South Carolina
• Maryland
• Virginia
• Georgia = debtors
prison
• 1st Permanent
English colony=
Jamestown. Virginia
(1607)
• “Colonial
Greenhouse” :
Plantations & cash
crops
Why did colonists
immigrate?
Religious Freedom:
• The Puritans came to
Massachusetts due to religious
persecution in Europe
• Quakers led by William Penn
founded Pennsylvania as a place
to practice their religion
• Maryland was a home for
Catholics founded by George
Calvert
• Connecticut was founded by
followers of Thomas Hooker to
avoid the harsh treatment by the
Puritans of Massachusetts
• Roger Williams founded Rhode
Island as heaven for all faiths
Why did colonists
immigrate? cont’d
Economic opportunity:
• Only 1st born sons in England
inherited the family farm, younger
siblings were on their own
• Jobs were hard to find in England
• The system of indentured servants
helped to pay for the trip to
America.
• An indentured servant had their
passage paid for by a Colonists. In
return the servant had to work for
the master for a period of time
(usually 7 years)
• There was excellent farmland in
America
Beginnings of Slavery
• Due to the nature of the land,
large plantations that grew
tobacco, rice, and indigo
sprung up all throughout the
South
• These plantations needed a
large and cheap workforce
• The system of indentured
servants could not produce
enough workers
• Plantation owners now turned
to the enslavement Africans to
fill the need
Triangular Trade
• To supply the slave, a system of
trade developed between the
Americas, Africa, and Europe
• America traded rum in Africa for
slaves
• Slaves were sold to plantations
to grow sugar
• The sugar was shipped to New
England where it was turned into
Rum
Middle Passage
• The segment of triangular
trade were slaves were
shipped from Africa to the
Americas was called the
middle passage
• Hundreds of Africans were
crammed chained together
in hulls of ships for several
weeks
• There was no fresh air, no
sanitation, disease spread
quickly and many died on
the journey
British influence on
colonial government
• Colonial government was
heavily influenced by our
English heritage
• Colonists brought with them
from England ideas about how a
government should work
• Instead of creating new ideas,
they copied from the British
The Magna Carta
• England was ruled by a King
• In 1215 the Nobles rebelled
against a harsh ruler named
King John
• Forced the king to sign the
Magna Carta in exchange for
them paying taxes
• This guaranteed all citizen’s
equal right’s under the law
• 1st time a ruler’s power was
limited in a written document
Parliament
• British lawmaking body
• 2 Parts:
• House of Lords (hereditary upper
class house)
• House of Commons (elected
members from the working class)
• 1688 the Glorious Revolution
• Parliament and the King began
a Civil War against each other
• The King lost and was removed
from power
English Bill of Rights
• Guaranteed freedom of speech,
a fair trial, and it banned cruel
and unusual punishment
Common Law
• Early on there were no written
laws in England
• Followed rules that were based
on custom
• Judges used precedents (rulings
in similar cases) to make
decisions
• These precedents became
unofficial laws
• Led to a system of common lawrules based on court decisions
not on the laws of a legislature
• This is used in our civil courts
today
Ideas of the
Enlightenment
• This was an intellectual
movement based on scientific
discoveries of the 1600s
• Believed that God created an
orderly universe and that these
ideas could be discovered
through reason
• These laws were then applied to
all aspects of life, including
government
• These ideas were a strong
influence on the creation of
governments in America
Thinkers of the
Enlightenment
John Locke
• English philosopher who wrote The
Second Treatise of Government
• natural rights
• social contract
• If the government does not protect
those rights, it can be replaced
Thinkers of the
Enlightenment cont’d
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
• A French philosopher who
wrote The Social
Contract
• Said that man was born
free but is kept in
“chains” by oppressive
governments
• popular sovereignty
Thinkers of the
Enlightenment cont’d
Baron de Montesquieu
• French philosopher
• separation of powers
• Divide the government into 3
parts, each with a different role
-legislative
make laws
branch to
-executive branch to
enforce/ carry out laws
-judicial
laws
branch to interpret
Early Colonial
Governments
Virginia House of
Burgesses
• 1619
• Representatives from all the
colony gathered to discuss
common problems
• Had little real power but
marked the beginning of
self-government in
the colonies
Early Colonial
Governments cont’d
Mayflower Compact
• Pilgrims
• signed on the Mayflower
• It was a written form of
government that established a
direct democracy
• It created the tradition of the
town meeting, where citizens
could discuss and vote on issues.
• Town meetings are still used
in New England today
Early Colonial
Governments cont’d
Fundamental Orders
of Connecticut
• 1st written constitution in
America
• Created a
representative
democracy for the
colony
• Also called or popular
election of a governor
and judges
Early Colonial
Governments cont’d
• By the early 1700s, all colonies had several
things in common…
• a governor (either elected by the
people or appointed by the King or
state legislatures)
• an elected legislature
• representatives were white males
• bicameral
The Colonial Economy
New England
• Small farms, rocky
soil, short growing
season
• Merchants, milling,
shopkeepers, or
blacksmiths
• Shipbuilding was a
big industry
• Fishing and whaling
The Colonial Economy
The Middle
Colonies
• wheat
• Had many big ports
for trade (New York
City and Philadelphia)
• Had large amounts of
natural resources so
mines and iron works
were crucial to the
economy of the
region
The Colonial Economy
The Southern
Colonies
• Due to the warm climate
and long growing season,
the economy depended
on large plantations
• rice, tobacco, and indigo
• Many smaller farms
developed growing corn
and other staple crops
• Most of the region
depended on these “cash
crops” for their livelihood
An “American” Identity
Religion
• religious freedom
• Many laws were based on religious
beliefs
• The era was also dominated by
Great Awakening
The
• A strong religious movement of the
1720s
• Led to the rise of the Baptist and
Methodists movements
• Slaves also took comfort in the
message of hope provided by
Christianity
An “American” Identity
cont’d
Education
• first colleges in America
(Harvard, Princeton,
William and Mary) founded
to train ministers
• The first local/ public
school districts were
created to teach children
to read the Bible
An “American” Identity
cont’d
Family Life
• Formed the foundation of
society
• Families were large to share
workload of farms
• Men were in control of the
family
• Women had few rights and
could not vote
The Road to Revolution
• Until 1760, colonists left alone
Salutary Neglect
• 1760, George III takes the throne
of England
• Starts policy of mercantilism
towards the colonies
• 1763 marks the end of the
French and Indian War
• To cover the costs of the war,
England creates the
Stamp
Act as a tax on the colonists
(tax on newspapers and legal
The Road to Revolution
cont’d
• Colonists boycott British
goods as a protest to the
tax
• Parliament repeals the
Stamp Act
• In 1766, England passes the
Declaratory Act saying they
will tax the colonists
whenever they want to
The Road to Revolution
cont’d
• 1767, England
passes the
Townshend Acts
which taxed glass,
tea, paper, and lead
• Boycott again!
• 1773 Tea Act
passed
• Colonists respond
with the Boston
Tea Party
The Road to Revolution
cont’d
• England responds… Coercive Acts
aka Intolerable Acts
• September 1774, 1st Continental
Congress
• colonists demanded that their rights
were restored
• King George refuses and sends more
troops to the colonies
The Road to Revolution
cont’d
• April 1775, battles of
Lexington and Concord
• May 1775, 2nd
Continental Congress
met
• January 1776, Thomas
Paine writes Common
Sense which urged the
colonists to fight for
independence
The Declaration of Independence
• Thomas Jefferson
• explained to the world why we were
fighting for our independence
• argued that England was no longer
protecting our rights and as a result we
had the right to govern ourselves
• included a long list of abuses of
power by the King
• stated that it was up to the people to
decide how they would be ruled
• approved by the Second Continental
Congress on July 4th 1776