COLONIAL LIFE Day 1 England in the 17 th Century American History 1 Mr. Hensley SRMHS

English Civil War Charles I becomes unpopular by refusing to work with Parliament and by raising taxes 1640’s: Civil War as supporters of Charles fight the “Parliamentarians” Consent of the governed versus the Divine Right of Kings 1649: Charles beheaded

Cavaliers and Cromwell 1650’s: Oliver Cromwell becomes Lord Protector He is a Puritan Supporters of the dead King are known as Cavaliers In America, Northern colonies support Cromwell Southern colonies are Anglicans and royalists

The Restoration 1660: Royalists restore Charles II to throne Charles I is canonized by the Anglican Church Puritans are now in disfavor, purged from government 1660 to 1685: Charles II reigns, England loosens its morals

Dominion of New England During Restoration, all company charters are cancelled and all Northern colonies are consolidated into one dominion, controlled by the Crown Religious toleration is enforced by law Voting restrictions based on religion are removed

Meet Hobbes English philosopher, his book is called Leviathan – it is about what made for the best government He believed all men were selfish (evil) and that without a strong government to keep them in line, life would be “nasty, brutish and short” Monarchy was best

Meet Locke Locke was also a philosopher – he believed people were born with natural rights Examples: life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness People gave their consent to be governed in exchange for the governments promise to protect those rights

Consent of the Governed Locke believed a representative government was best (elect representatives who make the decisions) He believed that if your government failed to protect your natural rights, then you could withdraw your consent Replace your government if it doesn’t do its job!

The Glorious Revolution James II succeeds Charles II in 1685, suspected of Catholicism and French sympathies Overthrown by Parliament in 1689 and replaced by William and Mary (from Holland) New monarchs agree to respect Parliament and sign the English Bill of Rights

English Bill of Rights Only Parliament can tax English citizens Only Parliament can keep a standing army King is not above the law and cannot intervene Parliament has freedom of speech in session Parliament can give people right to bear arms

Problems in the Dominion 1686: Edmund Andros becomes new governor of the Dominion of New England Hated by the mainly Puritan colonists – he strictly enforces Navigation Acts, he promotes Anglican Church and he refuses to recognize local councils

1689 Boston Revolt Local militias are organized and Andros is captured in Boston Colonies revert back to their original charters Colonists aren’t rebelling against England, just against their governor Revolt is a good example of the concept “Consent of the governed”

End of the Dominion Colonies renegotiate new charters with England (William and Mary) Colonists get the right to local government Crown gets to enforce religious toleration Effective end of Puritan control of New England

In the Year 1700… Great Britain is the only European country where people have their natural rights protected by their government They have a King – but he works for the people (Parliament) Glorious Revolution was an example of “consent of the governed”

Salutary Neglect In the 1700’s, Great Britain is focused on threat from France War of Spanish Succession rages in Europe from Britain lets colonists govern themselves, within limits Lax enforcement of Navigation Acts

Review: England in the 17 th Century BIG QUESTIONS: What big trends occupied the people of England during the 17 th Century? In England, during the Colonial time period ( ), the rich and powerful were concentrated on fighting a Civil War that pitted those loyal to the King against those who felt power belonged to the people. England finally restored the monarchy but restricted the King’s powers and made him subordinate to Parliament. Great Britain occupied itself with wars against France in the early 1700’s and let the colonies govern themselves while only loosely enforcing the Navigation Acts. This is known as “salutary neglect” The writings of two philosophers were very influential on how the English thought about government. Thomas Hobbes argued that evil men needed a strong government to keep them safe from each other. John Locke felt that every person was born with natural rights and it was the job of the government to protect those rights.