1. The American Experience
Constitutional Traditions
The Mayflower Compact- 1st Self Government
House of Burgesses- 1st Representative Government
Revolutionary Era
Memories of grievances against the king
Declaration of Independence
Colonial Self-Government
Mayflower Compact (1620)- establish basic laws
Fundamental Orders of Connecticut- House of Burgesses
The Enlightenment
Baron de Montesquieu
“Spirit of the Laws”
Separation of powers
Three separate branches
John Locke
“Two Treatises of Government”
All people have natural rights (life, liberty, and property)
Government is agreement between ruler and ruled
People have the right to rebel if rights are violated
English Influence
Magna Carta 1215
Limited government
Right to trial by jury
Protection from unlawful imprisonment
Parliament (Middle Ages)
National legislature, two houses, has power over taxes
English Bill of Rights (1689)
Monarch cannot have a standing army
Taxes only passed by Parliament
Freedom of speech and right to debate
The Roman Empire
Americans admired the Roman Republic
Roman citizens were willing to serve in public office
Caesar Augustus
Under Caesar Augustus Rome became a dictatorship
Rome fails because of greed and corruption
Warning Signs
Americans view Rome’s collapse as a warning not to value luxury over independence