American Political Background
English Come to North America
•Settlers came to the Americas in search of:wealth, religious freedom, and land ownership
•First “Americans” faced brutal winters, disease,droughts and other unanticipated disasters
•Furthermore, North America was alreadyinhabited by Native Americans, Spanish, andFrench colonists
The original 13 Colonies
•1. The thirteen colonies were colonies of whatcountry?
•2. Which colony was farthest north?
•3. Which colony was farthest south?
•4. The colonies were bounded by the AppalachianMountains on the west. What ocean bordered thecolonies on the east?
•5. The oldest colony was Virginia (founded in1607). Which colony was just south of Virginia?
•6. The colony of Virginia contained what are nowthe states of Virginia and West Virginia. Whatcolony bordered Virginia to the northeast?
•7. The colony of Massachusetts was composed ofwhat are now the states of Massachusetts andMaine. What colony was between the two parts ofMassachusetts?
•8. What colony was located east of Connecticut?
•9. The colony of New York contained what arenow the states of Vermont and New York. Whattwo colonies bordered the colony of New York onthe south?
•10. In what year did the 13 colonies declare theirindependence from Britain?
Reasons for Leaving England
•England could not offer the same opportunitiesof wealth, land ownership, and religious freedom
•Feudalism was a rigid social and politicalhierarchy based on land ownership that wasrestricted to few
•Land ownership was an opportunity for all in theNew World
•Others came to seek religious freedom fromtheir church and wanted to limit membership tothe settlers who they thought god had chosen
Settlers Bring the Seeds of Self-rule
•3 Key Documents:
1)The Magna Carta (1215) declared the peoplecould not be deprived of their lives, liberty orproperty except “by the lawful judgement oftheir peers, or by the law of the land.”
2)The Petition of Right (1628) declared theking was subject to the same laws as the people
Settlers Bring the Seeds of Self-rule
3)The English Bill of Rights (1689)
•Right to trial by jury
•Freedom from excessive bail or fines
•Right to keep arms
•Freedom from cruel/unusual punishment
•Right to petition the government
•Freedom from speech and debate with parliament
Key Concepts
•Limited Government provides restrictions onwhat government can do. A government withlimited powers cannot take certain individualsrights
•Representative Government should servethe will of the people and there demands willmore likely be heard
Participation in Colonial Government
•Each colony set its own voting rules, basing thoserules on such factors as property, religion, gender,and race:
I.Property qualifications for voting required thatall voters be property owners and or tax payers(didn’t exclude as many in the colonies as it did back in England)
II.Religious qualifications for voting required votersto meet moral or religious standards more so thanproperty-owning or taxpaying standards in theearliest days of colonial government.(Restrictions of church & state began to separate in the late 1600’s)
Participation in Colonial Government
III.Women were not officially excluded from politicalparticipation in America until the revolution.In England, they could occasionally vote if theyowned property and if there were no males intheir households (i.e. widows).
IV.African Americans and the institution of slavery didnot flourish until around 1670 when English colonistsfrom Barbados settled in South Carolina.The colonies required tremendous amounts of cheaplabor to produce raw goods for trade with England.Therefore, they developed a legal framework toregulate slavery and deny them access to politicalpower (property ownership, voting, and other rights).