1. CHAPTER 4 Civics

2. OUR HERITAGE  The values and experiences of the settlers in the thirteen English colonies make up an important part of our heritage, the traditions passed down to us from generation to generation.

3. OUR HERITAGE  From the beginning, the colonists were used to having a voice in their government.  In each colony, citizens could elect representatives to the legislature, a group of people chosen to make laws.

4. OUR HERITAGE  England had authority over the 13 colonies, but they were so busy fighting wars that the colonies pretty much ran themselves.

5. OUR HERITAGE  Only white males who owned land could vote.  Most colonists left England to escape religious persecution there. Freedom of religion was important in the colonies.  In Europe, newspapers could not print negative articles about the kings or rulers. In the Colonies, it was determined ok as long as what you print was true.

6. OUR HERITAGE  In the mid-1700s, England tightened its control over the Colonies. The colonists didn’t like it.

7. OUR HERITAGE  The Greeks created the world’s first direct democracy, a form of government in which laws are made directly by the citizens.

8. OUR HERITAGE  The Romans created a republic, a system in which elected representatives made the laws.  After Rome, democracy disappeared for about 1000 years.

9. OUR HERITAGE  In the 1200s, English noblemen forced the King to accept the Magna Carta and the English Bill of Rights.  These documents gave rights to citizens. These rights were also given to colonists.

10. OUR HERITAGE  “No taxation without representation.” The colonists didn’t have a representative in the English legislature. They didn’t mind paying taxes. They wanted representation in government.

11. OUR HERITAGE  The Declaration of Independence – Written July 4, 1776, it is the date we considered ourselves independent from England.  After the Declaration of Independence, we fought the Revolutionary War with England, and with France’s help, we won.

12. OUR HERITAGE  After the war, we wrote our first constitution called the Articles of Confederation.  The Articles of Confederation did not meet our needs so we wrote the NEW US Constitution in 1787.