What shaped the founders thinking about government?

1
What shaped the founders thinking about
government?

• Our English Roots

Many of the ideas that the Founding Fathers used
in creating the government of the United States
of America came from documents or ideas relating
to (or in contrast of) England
2
Feudal England (circa 1066) in very simple terms

Nobles pledge to go to war and fight for the king
King gives nobles power/land
Peasants give a portion of their crops to their
vassal or noble Knights give their
military services
Nobles give land to knights and peasants and vow
to provide protection for them
3
Feudalism

• The feudal system depended on a series of
  agreements or contracts in order to be
  successful.
• Each contract included rights and
  responsibilities that the parties owed to one
  another
• Feudalism introduces the idea of a system of
  government based on a contract
• During the time of feudalism the monarchs started
  to share power with the nobles.

4
The Magna Carta 1215

• Under feudalism it was custom for the royalty to
  share power with the nobility
• King John comes to power and did not want to
  share anything!
• The nobles rebelled!
• Nobles forced King John to sign the Magna Carta
  (also known as the Great Charter) in 1215
• The most important early example of a written
  statement of law that limits the power of a ruler

5
Magna Carta

• The document protected the nobles privileges and
  upheld their authority
• Granted certain rights to all landholders
  (including equal treatment under the law)
• It guaranteed that no one would be above the law,
  not even the king or queen (rule of law!)
• This was a big deal because
• It introduced the concepts of limited government,
  rule of law, and due process.
• It also helped create the nations Parliament
  (kind of like Congress in the U.S.).

6
Creation of Parliament

• In 1258 the nobles forced the king to create an
  advisory council called Parliament
• Parliament is the lawmaking (or legislative) body
  of the English government
• It was made up of two houses
• The House of Lords (represented the nobles)
• The House of Commons (represented people who
  owned large amounts of land)

7
Petition of Rights 1628

• The role of Parliament grew over the next
  centuries
• Parliament began to represent the interests of
  specific regions
• In 1628 the king tried to pressure the people for
  money without the consent of Parliament
  (Parliament felt that this was very sneaky of him
  and got upset!)
• As a result, Parliament forced the king to agree
  to the Petition of Rights of 1628.
• The petition stated that
• king could only raise taxes with the consent of
  Parliament
• No longer allowed the king to house his soldiers
  in the homes of the people (quartering)
• Strengthened the idea that English subjects had
  certain rights that the government could not
  violate

8
The Glorious Revolution 1688

• In 1688 Parliament removed King James II from the
  throne and invited his daughter Mary and her
  husband William to rule instead
• In doing so, Parliament demonstrated that it was
  now stronger than the monarch
• This was a peaceful transfer of power (no war)
  and is called the Glorious Revolution
• From this time on, no ruler would have more power
  than the legislature.
• To clarify the new relationship, Parliament drew
  up the English Bill of Rights

9
The English Bill of Rights 1689

• In 1689 Parliament passed the English Bill of
  Rights.
• Gave certain rights to Parliament that further
  limited the powers of the monarch
• It said that Parliament must be free and that the
  people have the right to petition the king
• Petition To formally request something

10
English Bill of Rights? Limits Monarchs Power

• The English Bill of Rights said that the monarchy
  was no longer allowed to
• Collect taxes without the consent of Parliament
• Interfere with the right to free speech and
  debate in Parliament
• Maintain an army in peacetime
• Prevent Protestants from having arms for their
  defense
• Require excessive bail or administer cruel
  punishment for those accused or convicted of
  crimes
• Declare that laws made by Parliament should not
  be obeyed

11
The Virginia House of Burgesses

• The first permanent English settlement in North
  America was Jamestown (1607)
• It was founded by a group of merchants from
  London with a charter from King James I.
• In 1619 the colonists choose two representatives
  from each county to meet with the governor and
  his council.
• These 22 men were called burgesses, and they
  formed the House of Burgesses, the first
  representative assembly or legislature, in the
  English colonies.
• The House of Burgesses had little power but it
  marked the beginning of self government in
  colonial America

12
The Mayflower Compact 1620

• The Pilgrims arrived in Plymouth (Massachusetts)
  in 1620
• Their ship, The Mayflower, got blown off course
  and they landed in territory not controlled by
  their charter so they needed rules!
• They drew up a written plan for government
  (self-government)
• Forty-one of the men aboard signed the Mayflower
  Compact which stated
• Just and equal laws for the general good of the
  colony
• The signers would obey those laws
• Set up a direct democracy (established this
  tradition in New England and you can see it
  through town meetings where citizens meet to
  discuss and vote on important issues)