1. American Roots- Colonial Culture and its foundations

2. Magna Carta (The Great Charter)
Magna Carta was written by a group of rebelling13th-century barons to protect their rights and property against a tyrannical king who thought he was above the law and could do whatever he wanted. But there are two principles expressed in Magna Carta that are important to us this day and appear in a similar form in our Bill of rights:
"No freeman shall be taken, imprisoned, disseised, outlawed, banished, or in any way destroyed, nor will We proceed against or prosecute him, except by the lawful judgment of his peers or by the law of the land."
"To no one will We sell, to no one will We deny or delay, right or justice.“
The document established the idea that no one above the rule of law, everyone was entitled to justice, and set reasonable tax limits.

4. Growth of Absolute Monarchies
During the latter part of the Middle Ages and Renaissance (1300’s- 1700’s) the ruling monarchies of Europe gained more power and took control of all decisions in government (laws, wars, taxes, religion, justice etc.). They saw themselves as living Gods (Divine Right Kings) and that they were born to rule because of their noble and superior blood line.

5. Enlightenment Thinkers
As people became more educated during the Renaissance, they become more aware of their lack of freedom and rights. At the same time the nobility and kings were gaining more power than ever (called absolute monarchy). To secure their power and extravagant lifestyles, they collected high taxes and placed greater restrictions on people.
The church also became more repressive, controlling people’s speech and censoring books. The Catholic and Protestant churches were afraid of losing their power to each other.
Great thinkers of the time wrote books questioning authority. They wanted freedoms and representative government. They were inspired by Ancient Greek Democracy and the Magna Carta.
They wanted an enlightened world based on reason and free the world from the darkness of ignorance and superstition.

6. John Locke- A Giant of the Enlightenment
John Locke was against the idea of Divine Right Monarchies. This was the belief the that royalty ruled because they were chosen by God. Locke felt that governments should exist only to protect and help people, not serve itself.
He said people had natural rights they were born with. This includes liberty, that all people are equal, and have the right to own property. The government’s job was to protect people’s rights, not to take them away.
Locke believed that government ruled by the consent (or approval) of the people.
Locke’s ideas helped inspire revolutionaries to overthrow their monarchies and create republics.

7. Enlightenment-Other leaders
Montesquieu- a free society means everyone must be free (no slaves), a government must have different branches (congress, president, supreme court) to check each other’s power. A republican society should be based on virtue and have a constitution of laws that all must follow (including the government).
Voltaire- Believed that government should be reformed so it’s tolerant, have free trade with no tariffs (taxes on goods), freedom of religion, and freedom to express ideas. “I don’t agree with what you say, but I will defend your right to say it, to my death”.
Adam Smith- a society is only as wealthy as its workers, everyone should have the freedom to do (a profession) what they do best, people are happy when wealth is shared in society, everyone should have freedom to improve their wealth.

8. Voltaire Locke Montesquieu

11. Some not so enlightened people…

12. English Civil Wars and the English Bill of Rights
Unlike other absolute monarchies in Germany, Russia, and France- the English had a tradition of representative government. Land owners could vote for members of parliament (House of Commons and House of Lords). The king shared power with parliament. However, by the 1600’s when America was starting to get settled, King Charles and Parliament began a struggle over who had the final say on the laws. The struggle turned into a series of civil wars and eventually established Parliament as the final say on the laws.
In 1689 Parliament drew up a Bill of Rights that established basic fundamental rights that the king couldn’t suspend parliament’s laws, impose taxes, raise armies without the lawmakers consent. There would be elections for parliament, fair trials by jury and no cruel or unusual punishment. This was the basis for our own Bill of Rights!

13. Cromwell Versus King Charles

14. English Civil War

15. Colonial Independence
The Colony Charters
The American colonies were either established as royal charter or business charter. Royal charters modeled themselves as the government of England with governors, councils, and assemblies. In the end though they had to take orders from the king and parliament back in England. Business charters set up the colony and ruled as they more or less wished. Some business charters like Pennsylvania had a high degree of freedom and became a Quaker colony.
Because the population was small in the colonies, England was thousands of miles away, the local colonists and land owners exercised power themselves and grew to believe that they had the right to govern themselves. The local town hall meeting set the stage for revolution later!

16. The Great Awakening
In the 1730’s to 1740’s a great Christian spiritual revival swept through the colonies and the colonists faith increased greatly. Led by ministers Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield people grew a more personal relationship with God and chose their own faith. New churches sprang up everywhere and the traditional established churches declined.
As a result, the common people claimed to as good as a right to judge and act in accordance with their beliefs as a ruler or a minister. Different colonists from around America now had a unifying common experience and belief that overcame their regional differences. This paved the way for the rapid spread of revolutionary ideas on freedom later.

17. Roots of American Protestantism

18. The New American Spirit
The colonists were from many different countries, languages and religions but when they came here they became Americans, with a common way of doing things.
Independent minded, bold, confident, persistent, entrepreneurial
They adapted their old traditions and established new ones
They developed stronger faith, valued education, and ruled themselves and broke way from the idea of rank and title (noble blood)
“He is an American, who, leaving behind him all his ancient prejudices and manners, receives new ones from the new mode of life he has embraced, the new government he obeys, and the new rank he holds….Here individuals of all races are melted into a new race of man, whose labors and posterity will one day cause great changes in the world” De Crevecoeur

20. Rising Tensions with England!
British Economic Policies
Mercantilism- An economic policy that believed that a country builds wealth and power by exporting more goods to other countries than it imports. It will then build up a supply of gold that can buy bigger armies that can get more land/power etc.
The colonies through the Navigation Acts was forced to sell their raw materials (rice, tobacco, lumber, fur, leather, fish etc.) even though they could get a higher price from another country. They had to buy their manufactured products (tools, clothing, guns, furniture etc.) from England. All imported goods from other countries went through England first in order to get taxed. All products had to be shipped through English ships.
Colonists wanted to produce their own goods and have free trade. This created a huge smuggling black market!

21. British Mercantilism