Chapter 4

 Is the American system of government truly unique?  Is individual freedom the same thing as freedom we enjoy as a nation?  What is the significance of the Declaration of Independence?  What kind of power structure did the colonists want to avoid in creating a new government?  What challenges did America face in forming a new government?

 Heritage - the traditions passed down to us from generation to generation  What heritage defines you?  What heritage do we have as Americans?

 Legislature - a group of people chosen to make laws  Did the colonists form a legislature?  Charter - a document giving permission to create a government  What does this mean for the colonial legislature? Did they still have the ability to make laws as they pleased?

 Religious Freedom  Different today than in colonial America In colonial America, this meant that you had the right to belong to any Christian church Today, this means that you have the right to practice any religion and also the right to practice no religion  Religion tied to Government Example - paying taxes to support the official Church of England

 Freedom of the Press (remember, no 1st amendment yet)  John Peter Zenger Trial He wrote for a New York Newspaper and accused the governor of accepting bribes and interfering with elections Zenger was put in jail by the governor Zenger’s lawyer claimed that freedom of the press was a basic right Zenger was found not guilty and was released What did this do for the Freedom of the Press?

 Colonists were starting to become upset with how England had tightened its control of the colonies  Tyranny - the abuse of power  As of the mid 1700’s the colonists were concerned that England might try to strip them of their rights and their voice in government

 Ancient Athenians (Greeks)  Direct Democracy - a form of government in which laws are made directly by the citizens  Town meetings and local governments  Ancient Romans  Republic - a government in which representatives were elected to make laws  Colonial legislatures

 Magna Carta (Great Charter)  Limited the power of those in power  King John of England signed this document limited his own power  While the Magna Carta was an important step, but it did not give equal rights to all people  English Bill of Rights  By the late 1200’s Parliament was established as England’s law making body (grew in power)  The English Bill of Rights limited the powers of the king  The king could not collect taxes without Parliament’s approval  Rights of citizens were listed, proclaimed that everyone must obey the law, everyone had the right of trial by jury

 John Locke  Natural Rights - rights you are born with and that no government can take away What are examples of your Natural Rights?  Representative government is the only reasonable kind and that “government exists to serve the people, not for people to serve the government”

 Baron de Montesquieu  Separation of Powers - dividing government power among legislative, executive, and judicial branches  What are the roles of the branches?  Why is separation of powers necessary?

 Who made the laws for the colonists?  Were colonists members of this legislative body?  Why is this a problem?  Doesn’t England have the right to “do what they want” with the colonies since they belong to England?

 To pay debts, England raised taxes on the colonies to bring in money  How did the colonists react?  The First Continental Congress (1774)  Delegates from 12 colonies met in Philadelphia to discuss how England was violating the rights of the colonists  The delegates pledged to cut off trade with England if their rights continued to be abused

 The 2nd Continental Congress  Things got worse  Many thought that the war had already begun  Thomas Paine’s “Common Sense” “To be always running three or four thousand miles with a tale or a petition, waiting four or five months for an answer, which when obtained requires five or six more months to explain it, will in a few years be looked at as folly and childishness. There was a time when it was proper, and there is a proper time for it to cease. England belongs to England, America belongs to itself.”

 The 2nd Continental Congress voted for Independence  Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and John Adams were all appointed to the committee to write the Declaration  Who was the Declaration written for?  What actually was the Declaration?  The Declaration was adopted on July 4, 1776

 Compact - a written agreement to make and obey laws for the welfare of the group  Each state created its own Constitution that listed the rights of citizens and outlined a plan of government  Remember, the states were still 13 separate governments  Forming a National Government  Everyone feared that they would create a government that would also have the ability to become oppressive

 Large States (Virginia, Pennsylvania) wanted a government whose representation was based on population  Small States (Delaware, Rhode Island) wanted a government whose states each had the same number of votes

 A loose alliance of states was written in 1777  This called for a national legislature in which each state would have one vote (Congress)  This Congress did not have the power to tax or to enforce any law that it made  Most power remained with the states  The Articles of Confederation was ratified in 1781  Ratification - approval

 Debt  The Revolutionary War had caused the states and Congress to borrow a great deal of money  The value of American money was in question  Lack of trade with England and its colonies made things difficult

Farmers who were unable to pay taxes on their land were losing their farms, courts threatened to take the land if the farmers didn’t pay In 1786, Daniel Shays and other Massachusetts farmers stormed into court houses and (violently) disrupted courts People started to call for a stronger National Government