American Colonies Politics on the Eve of Revolution

1775 Colonial Governments 8 colonies have royal governors appointed by the King Often clashed with colonial legislatures because they represented a king who was thousands of miles away. Samuel Adams Warning British Royal Governor Thomas Hutchinson after the Boston Massacre An angry mob destroy his house with axes, loot his house, and drink the wine in his cellar.

1775 Colonial Governments continued… 2 colonies elected their own governors under self-governing charters. (Rhode Island and Connecticut) 3 colonies had proprietors (Maryland, Pennsylvania, Delaware) --private land owners given authority by the king to appoint their own royal governors. Self-Taxation through representation was a precious privilege that American colonists had come to cherish and expect.

Legislatures/Law making bodies Almost all the colonies had a two-house legislature. Modeled after the bicameral legislature in England’s government. Parliament is divided into the… House of Lords House of Commons Lower House was usually elected by the people Men who owned enough property to vote

Turn & Talk Take out tracker (Ms. Koss has been naughty  and forgot to have you use it!) How are Parliament and the government of the United States today similar? What is one way Parliament and the government of the United States today are different?

Colonial Assemblies Government in England left the colonial royal governors at the mercy of the legislatures. Colonial legislature withheld salaries from governors until their demands were met. Spirit of revolt and tensions rise. By 1760: 18 uprisings aimed at overthrowing colonial governments. 6 black rebellions from South Carolina to New York.

End of Salutary Neglect French defeated after the French and Indian War. British government tightens control over the colonies. Proclamation of 1763 English in need of colonists’ wealth to help pay war debts. English argue they were protecting the colonists from the French and hostile Indians. Colonists argue that they helped expand the British Empire.

Boston…seeds of revolution Lower classes use the town meetings to vent their grievances (complaints). James Otis and Samuel Adams (upper-class politicians)organize “Boston Caucus” to call the lower classes into action.

Turn & Talk : Making Connections Use your tracker How do people in the United States show dissatisfaction with the government today? Do you believe that the United States could have a revolution today? Why or why not?