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1100s-1200s
Monarchs (kings and queens) rule but noble families gained power through land in exchange for loyalty, tax money, and military support. -
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1215
nobles force King John who was treating them harshley, to sign a document
-limited power of monarch-no one could be above the law
-everyone would get equal treatment under the law
-trial by ones peers -
1300s the next king develops a group that represents common people-Parliament
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-accept common law
-no ruler is above the law (just like in Magna Carta and in Glorious Revolution)
-should have basic rights protected
-should have a voice in government -
-1st representative assembly/legislature in English colonies
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-established direct democracy
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-people are born free, equal, and independent
-born with natural rights to life, liberty (freedom), and property that no government could take away
-government must maintain social contact
-people give up part of their freedom in exchange for protection of natural rights
The first man who influenced our government structure
*His ideas were cornerstones of Declaration of Independence and Constitution -
-1st written constitution in America
-assembly of elected representatives from each town to make laws
-popular election of governor and judges -
-first legal code established by European colonists in New England
-compiled by the Puritan minister Nathaniel Ward
-the laws were established by the Massachusetts General Court -
-establish basis of US Constitution and Bill of Rights
Colonists believed egalitarianism-equality
Part of this was the belief that colonists had all traditional rights of native English people -
Parliament removes King John III and replaces him with his daughter Mary and her husband William
-from this time on, no ruler would have more power than Parliament -
-further restricted monarchs power
-guaranteed free elections to Parliament
-right to a fair trial *like in our bill of rights
-eliminated cruel and unusual punishments -
-divide branches of government into different parts to balance each other out so no one can become too strong
Third man who influenced hot government structure
*His ideas are cornerstones to the Declaration of Independence and Constitution (like Locke) -
-Locke and Montesquieu were Enlightenment thinkers
-believed God had created an orderly universe
-the laws of the universe could be discovered through the use of human reason
-laws that govern nature also applied to human life and society -
-wrote the Social Contarct
-people alone have the right to determine how they should be governed
Second man to influence our government structure -
-colonists are not feeling they had rights of native English people because of taxes and limitations
-they had been self-sufficient, representative government for 100+ years
-me turning back or stopping now-we'll have to fight for independence -
-1st discussion of colonies for union against British government
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-can't live on land west of Applachian mountains so as not to stir up the native Americans
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-tax on all paper goods
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-colonists must provide barracks and supplies to British troops
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-Stamp Act repealed
-established Declaratory Act-Parliament has the right to tax and make decisions for American colonies in all cases -
-allowed British government customs officers to enter anywhere
suspected of smuggling (because many colonists were doing this because of taxes and boycotting) -
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-British could ship tea to the colonies without a tax making it cheaper to buy than colonial tea
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-First Continental Congress-write to King George III-we demand you to restore our rights as British citizens
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-1st battle of American Revolution
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-moved many undecided colonists toward the belief that independence was the only course of action
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-list of complaints against king
-beliefs about independence rights
-pulled from ideas of Locke and Montesquieu
