Origins of American Government

Chapter 2

Our Political Beginnings

• Basic Concepts of Government– Ordered Government – colonists wanted order in

their lives– Limited Government – they felt the government

should NOT be all-powerful– Representative Government (popular sovereignty)

– the government should serve the people

• Landmark English Documents– Magna Carta – established the principle of limited

government and basic rights of English citizens. Signed by King John at Runnymeade in 1215

– Petition of Right – limited the king’s power and gave Parliament more power and citizens more rights

– English Bill of Rights – redefined the rights of Parliament and the rights of people.

• Government in the colonies– Royal Colony – controlled by the king who

appointed a governor to run the colony for him• Example: Virginia

– Proprietary Colony – owned by wealthy people who appointed a governor to run the colony• Example: Pennsylvania

– Charter Colony – controlled by the people who elected a governor• Massachusetts

Independence

• Royal Control– Federalistic – In the beginning, England left the

colonies alone because of the distance between the two

– Legislative Powers – because of the distance, colonists basically were able to make their own laws

– Post 1760/French and Indian War – this caused England to see how prosperous the colonies were so they wanted to tax them to make them help pay off war debts

• Colonial Unity– 1600s – the colonies did not see the need to

permanently band together– Albany Plan – Ben Franklin suggested

representatives from all colonies meet annually. Failed to catch on.

– Stamp Act Congress – organized boycotts and protests. Got the Stamp Act repealed.

• First Continental Congress– Intolerable Acts, 1774

– caused the colonists to send representatives to form the First Continental Congress.

– Declaration of Rights – sent to the king protesting the taxes and restrictions.

• Second Continental Congress– 1775 Revolutionary War Begins– Second Continental Congress formed and

became our governing body– George Washington was appointed head of the

Continental Army– Declaration if Independence signed July 4, 1776• Announced our freedom from Great Britain• Proclaimed equality for all men

• First State Governments wrote and approved their own state constitutions once the Declaration of Independence was signed.

• Common Features of the first State Governments:– Popular Sovereignty– Limited Government– Civil Rights/Civil Liberties– Separation of Powers– Checks and Balances

The Critical Period

• Articles of Confederation were our first national constitution passed in 1781– Formed a friendship between the states– Had only one branch of government– Had only a unicameral legislature– Legislative powers related mainly to defense– States agreed to follow the rules, but could not be

forced/coerced into doing so– National government had no power to tax, regulat

e trade, or make the states follow the rules!

• The 1780s– Disputes between the states showed the need for

a stronger national government– Economy was in chaos

• Meetings– Mount Vernon – 1785– Annapolis – 1786– Philadelphia – 1787 – became the Constitutional

Convention

Creating the Constitution

• The Framers– Age – most were young– Education – most were well educated

• Organization and Procedure– President of the Convention was George

Washington– Secretary of the Convention was James Madison• He would later become the Father of the Constitution

– Voting would be one vote per state, majority rule

• The decision– Supposed to fix the articles

– Decided to throw them out

• Virginia Plan– National government• Strong• Three branches

– Legislature• Representation would be based on population

• New Jersey Plan– National government• Weak, like under the Articles of Confederation

– Legislature• Representation would be equal

• Connecticut Compromise (Great Compromise)– Legislature would be bicameral• Upper House would have equal representation• Lower House would have representation based on

population

• Other Compromises– Three-Fifths Compromise• To count the slaves or not????

– Yes every five slaves counted as three people– Counted for representation AND taxation

– Commerce and Slave Trade Compromise• Forbade Congress to

– Tax exports– Act on Slave Trade for 20 years

• Constitution– Known as a bundle of compromises– Came from

• History• Current political thought

– Locke– Hobbs– Montesquieu– Rousseau

• The delegates own experience

• Convention Completed its work– Approved the Constitution– All agreed – it wasn’t perfect, but it was the best they

could do.

Ratifying the Constitution• Ratification– Formed the first two political parties in the United States of

America• Federalists

– Favored the Constitution– Primary leader was Alexander Hamilton

• Anti-Federalists– Initially opposed the Constitution– Primary leader would soon become Thomas Jefferson– Opposed the Constitution because

» Lack of a Bill of Rights» Increased power of the National government» Ratification process

• Only needed 9 of the 13 states to ratify it before it became law» Lack of a mention of God in the document

• Ratification occurred– 1st state to ratify was Delaware

– 9th state was New Hampshire

– Constitution became official AFTER the 9th state once the two largest states, New York and Virginia, ratified it.