The Roots of American Democracy

Religious & Classical Roots Christians believed in natural law: the idea that a universal set of moral principles existed. Many colonists believed that a human law that violated natural law was unjust and should be changed.

Religious & Classical Roots Ancient Greek= direct democracy, or decision making by all citizens. Direct Democracy existed in New England’s town meetings, where citizens gathered to solve local problems.

Religious & Classical Roots Ancient Romans= idea of Representative government

English Roots The Magna Carta: defined the rights and duties of English nobles, set limits on the monarch’s power, and established the principle of the rule of law. How does this impact the role of the president?

English Roots The Petition of Right: idea of limited government by stating that the king’s power was not absolute..

English Roots The English Bill of Rights = protect some basic rights for English citizens in 1689. Remind you of another document?

English Enlightenment Thomas Hobbes: government was the result of a social contract between people and their rulers.

English Roots John Locke wrote about the idea that all people were equal and enjoyed certain natural rights, such as the right to life, liberty, ad property. Sound familiar?

French Enlightenment Montesquieu introduced the idea of separation of powers, in which governments are organized to prevent any one person or group from dominating others. -How does this idea impact American government?

French Enlightenment Jean-Jacques Rousseau believed in the idea that a government formed by a social contract was legitimate if it was based on popular sovereignty., i.e the people are the source of all political power

From Ideas to Independence 1619, Virginia House of Burgesses The legislative branch of the colony The House of Burgesses was the 1st elected assembly in the colonies What is this similar to?

From Ideas to Independence 1620, Mayflower Compact The pilgrims agreed to obey just and equal laws enacted by representatives. 1st written framework for self-government in the colonies. What is this similar to?

From Ideas to Independence 1763 French and Indian War After the war, Britain reversed its policy of “benign neglect” by imposing new taxes and restrictions on the colonies. New Taxes? See where this is going?

From Ideas to Independence 1765, Stamp Act The British government required Americans to buy stamps to place on various documents. Colonists felt that as British citizens, only their elected representatives could tax them; with no colonial representation in Parliament, the taxes were illegal. Heard this before? No taxation without representation!

From Ideas to Independence 1776, Declaration of Independence Called for a final break between the colonies and Britain and the reasons why. Says government is formed to protect people’s unalienable rights and gets its powers from the consent of the governed.

Framing New Constitutions State constitutions showed that lawmakers were committed to constitutionalism-the idea that government should be based on an established set of principles. These principles included popular sovereignty, limited government, the rule of law, and majority rule. State constitutions also created a government with 3 branches to separate powers, and most began with a statement of individual rights.

Framing New Constitutions Articles of Confederations Main Weaknesses Congress could not levy taxes to raise money to support an army or repay debts. Congress could not control trade among the states; instead, states set up trade barriers and argued among themselves. There was no executive to enforce laws and no court system to settle legal disputes. States could and did ignore laws passed by Congress.

Articles of Confederation

Major Challenges at the Constitutional Convention 1st issue was how to determine representation in the new government. Some delegates favored a unicameral legislature in which all states had equal representation. Others favored a bicameral legislature with representation based on population. The resolution was to have a bicameral legislature. In one house, representation was based on population. The other house had equal state representation.

Major Challenges at the Constitutional Convention 2nd challenge was over slavery. The resolution was to count slaves as 3/5 of a free person for determining taxation and representation.

Major Challenges at the Constitutional Convention 3rd Challenge – how to choose the president. Some delegates thought Congress should do it, while others favored popular elections. The resolution was to set up the Electoral College.

Ratifying the Constitution Federalists Favored the creations of a strong federal government that shared power with the states. Anti-Federalists Preferred the loose association of states established under the Articles of Confederation

Ratifying the Constitution Federalists Believed that because the national government represented so many people, it would be less likely to fall under the sway of factions Anti-Federalists Feared that a strong national government would lead to tyranny. Believed that states are better able to represent people’s rights and preserve democracy.

Ratifying the Constitution Federalists Believed that separation of powers in the Constitution kept the national government from becoming too powerful. Anti-Federalists Were concerned that the Constitution did not contain a bill of rights.

Ratifying the Constitution How was the debate resolved? By an agreement that a bill of rights would be added to the document. 1789,James Madison, father of the Constitution, introduced a series of proposed constitutional amendments in Congress. These amendments were a list of rights, found in various documents. Congress eventually approved 12 amendments, 10 of which were ratified at that time.