The American Colonies and Their Government Chapter 2

The Foundations of Democracy The origin of the American political system can be traced to ancient times Democracy a government in which citizens hold the power to rule. The Greek city-state of Athens created the world’s first democracy. Representative democracy a government in which citizens choose a smaller group to govern on their behalf.

The Foundations of Democracy A government based on representative democracy is called a republic. The United States is a republic. As the ancient Greeks were creating democracy, the ancient Romans were creating the world first republic. In 509 B.C. the Romans overthrew their king. Romans empire collapsed around A.D. 476. For the next 700 years kings and queens rules most of Europe.

The Foundations of Democracy In 1215, many nobles resisted the king and rose up against him. They forced him to sign a document called the Magna Carta. The Magna Carta limited the king’s power. It forbade him from placing certain taxes on nobles without their consent. The Magna Carta is important because it established the principle of limited government.

Influence of the Enlightenment The conflict between monarch and Parliament produced new ideas and government. An Early Enlightenment thinker Thomas Hobbs wrote a social contract. John Locke wrote that all people were born equal with certain God-given rights, called natural rights.

The First Colonial Government England found colonies in America throughout the 1600s. The first permanent English settlement was Jamestown. In 1620 the Pilgrims sail to America on the Mayflower. The established the Mayflower Compact a direct democracy in colonial America.

Social and Political Changes in Colonies From 1740-1760 there was a religious movement called the Great Awakening. The Great Awakening pressed colonist to question traditional religious authority. The Great Awakening and the Enlightenment together create a strong spirit of liberty, or personal freedom.

Social and Political Changes in Colonies The British grew and were moving westward into the area claim by France. In 1754, French forces joined with some Native America groups to drive out British colonists from land west of the Appalachian Mountains. This conflict was called the French and Indian War. The British Army won the war in 1763.

Social and Political Changes in Colonies The French and Indian War left Britain deep in debt. King George decide that the colonist need to pay for the war. He also issued a proclamation, or an official statement, It forbade the colonist from settling in the land won from France. In 1765, Parliament passed the Stamp Act. The law required that the colonists buy and place tax stamps on many kinds of documents.

Social and Political Changes in Colonies Colonial leaders called on the colonist to boycott, or refuse to by British goods. After the repealing the Stamp Act, Parliament levied a new set taxes. The Townshend Act place duties in a wide range of goods imported from overseas.

Steps Toward Independence Read pages 58-61