Influences on American Government

The English Magna Carta In 1215 in England, King James was considered a “tyrant” with too much power The people forced the King to sign a document, , “The Great Charter”, or Magna Carta, limiting his powers. Among other restrictions, the King could not longer request taxes without the consent of his counsel men…which later will become known as Parliament. Parliament is the law-making body of the British Government

The Age of Enlightenment 1600’s in Europe Urged reason and logic for figuring out nature’s laws A move away from religion to acceptance of science Promoted democracy over monarchy

Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) People could not rule themselves Give up rights to absolute monarch for fear of a violent death

John Locke (1632-1704) Natural Rights – all people are born with basic rights (Life, Liberty, Property) Social Contract – Relation between government and the people is a contract People obey laws Government protects rights Right to rebel – if the government does not protect rights it is the right of the people to destroy that government

Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) Everywhere gov. is oppressing the people The only fair and just gov. is one the people create

Baron de Montesquieu (1689-1755) Gov. needs power but power corrupts Protect the people by separating the powers of gov. into three branches Write the laws Enforce the laws Interpret the laws

Who wrote Common Sense and what was its purpose? Thomas Paine Purpose was to encourage American colonist to overthrow British rule, start a revolution

Who wrote the Declaration of Independence Thomas Jefferson

Two Purposes of Declaration Declare independence State the reasons why America must be free from the rule of the King

Our First Constitution In 1777, the Articles of Confederation were written…our first attempt at a constitution to unite all 13 colonies Recall and know: Why was this document too weak, why did it fail?

United States Constitution By 1789, representatives met in Philadelphia at the Constitutional Convention. IMPORTANT: The new constitution is where all our laws are derived from…this document gives more power to the federal government than to state government, but still gives a huge amount of power to “the people”…the states.