Origins of Representative Government in North America

1. Chapter Introduction This chapter will introduce you to the beginnings of representative government in North America, as well as the ideas and lifestyles that shaped the founding of the United States. • Section 1: Governing the Colonies • Section 2: Colonial Society • Section 3: Slavery in the Colonies • Section 4: The Spread of New Ideas

2. Objectives • Explain how English political traditions influenced the 13 colonies. • Describe the responsibilities of early colonial governments. • Identify John Peter Zenger’s role in establishing freedom of the press. • Understand how the Navigation Acts affected the colonies’ economy.

3. Terms and People • legislature – a group of people who have the power to make laws • bill of rights– a written list of freedoms that a government promises to protect • habeas corpus– the principle that a person cannot be held in prison without being charged with a specific crime • freedom of the press – the right of journalists to publish the truth without restriction or penalty • libel – the publishing of statements that damage a person’s reputation

4. How did English ideas about government and trade affect the colonies? All English colonies shared a common English heritage, and that heritage included the idea that citizens had political rights. England also promoted the theory of mercantilism—that colonies existed to benefit their parent country—but some colonists began to question that theory. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bouw3MvmrYM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxmB2DB10Ts

5. In 1215, English nobles forced King John to sign the Magna Carta, which was the first document to place restrictions on an English ruler’s power. The rights listed in the Magna Carta were at first limited to nobles. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xo4tUMdAMw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_5My8XH-n0 Over time, the rights were extended to all English citizens.

6. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTWQzF1027I The Magna Carta: • limited the monarch’s right to levy taxes without consulting the nobles. • protected the right to property. • guaranteed the right to trial by jury.

8. In the 1640s, power struggles between King Charles I and Parliament led to the English Civil War. King Charles I Parliament Parliamentary forces eventually won the war, executed the king, and briefly ruled England.

9. In 1660, the monarchy was restored, but Parliament retained its traditional rights. In 1688’s Glorious Revolution, Parliament removed King James II from the throne and invited his daughter Mary and her husband William to rule. A condition of their rule, however, was that they sign the EnglishBill of Rights. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpODhe16j7k

10. The English Bill of Rights: • restated many of the rights granted by the Magna Carta. • upheld habeas corpus. (a writ requiring a person to be brought before a judge or court, especially for investigation of a restraint of the person's liberty) • required that Parliament meet regularly.

11. The legal rights that Englishmen had won over the centuries led the colonists to expect a voice in their government. By 1760, every British colony in North America had a legislature of some kind, although the legislatures sometimes clashed with the colonial governors appointed by the king. Colonial Governors Appointed by the King Colonial Legislatures Most were elected

13. The British government gave William Penn outright ownership of Pennsylvania. But in 1701, the colonists forced Penn to agree that: • only the General Assembly—not Penn or his council—could make laws. • only the king could overturn laws passed by the General Assembly.

14. British and colonial governments were similar in some ways, but they had important differences.

15. In the colonies, 50 to 75 percent of white men could vote, which was a far greater percentage than in England. But the following groups could not vote: • English women, even those who owned property. • Native Americans. • Africans, whether free or enslaved.

16. Another important right for American colonists was the freedom of the press. However, a trial in the colonies granted writers new freedom to publish the truth. In England, writers who criticized the government were punished, even if what they said was true.

17. John Peter Zenger, publisher of the New York Weekly Journal, was charged with libel (a published false statement that is damaging to a person's reputation; a written defamation)for printing articles that criticized the governor. Jurors found Zenger not guilty because the articles he published were based on facts. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWzmsuB0J_4 FACTS

18. The Zenger case helped establish the principle that a democracy depends on well-informed citizens. Therefore, the press has a right and a responsibility to keep the public informed of the truth. Today, freedom of the press is recognized as a basic American liberty. Freedom of the Press

19. While colonists maintained some important rights, they felt burdened by Britain’s economic policies. Under the theory of mercantilism, colonies existed in order to enrich their parent country. $ $ $ $ $ $ $ In 1651, the English Parliament passed the first of several Navigation Acts, laws designed to funnel the colonies’ wealth to England.

21. Chapter 4 Section 2

22. Terms and People • extended family – a family that includes, in addition to the parents and their children, other members such as grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins • apprentice – someone who learns a trade by working for someone in that trade for a certain period of time • gentry – the upper class of colonial society • middle class – in colonial society, a class made up of small planters, independent farmers, and artisans • indentured servant – someone who signed a contract to work from 4 to 10 years in the colonies for anyone who would pay for his or her ocean passage to the Americas

23. What were the characteristics of colonial society? People in England’s colonies had a heritage of political rights and other shared characteristics that created a unifying culture among the colonists. Some of those shared characteristics were an emphasis on family, hard work, and clearly defined gender roles.

24. In colonial America, many people lived with their extended families. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCU_jxgZ1B0 Most colonists lived on farms, where having a large family was an advantage because many people were needed to do all the work. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p47tZLJbdag Most farms were isolated, so it was important for families to work well together.

25. In farmhouses, which were made of wood and had few rooms, people used planks or mattresses of corncobs for beds. In the New England and Middle colonies, winters were cold, and often the only source of heat was a fireplace in the kitchen.

26. In Puritan New England, single men and women were expected to live with a family as a servant or a boarder. Many single people gathered in the colonies’ cities and towns, where it was easier for them to live.

27. In the colonies, men and women generally took on different roles. If men were not farmers, they worked as carpenters, coopers, butchers, wheelwrights, or in other trades. A husband and father was the leader of his family, and he controlled his family’s income and property.

28. The lives of colonial women were different from the lives of American women today.

29. A colonial woman often bore her husband many children, and childcare took up much of her time. Her other domestic responsibilities included cooking, laundry, making cloth and sewing clothes, gardening, tending animals, and preserving food.

31. If they survived infancy, colonial children had seven years before they were required to work. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-z2_JDO1RI8&list=PLI0KxqyjFmfrkPlxy53A0aRTMZpId9mrN Children often played games such as hopscotch and jump rope, and they played with toys such as homemade dolls and tops.

32. By the age of seven, most children did household or farm chores, or, if they were poor, they might become servants in other families. When they got older, boys learned how to farm from their fathers, while girls learned how to keep house from their mothers. Boys who were learning trades began as apprenticesand then worked independently. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIyf_ZAQmmg

33. In Europe, land was the main measure of wealth, but only a small number of people owned it. America had land in abundance, and many European colonists moved there because they hoped to own land of their own.

34. In Europe, there was not much movement among social and economic classes. But in colonial America, there was more social equality among settlers—at least among white settlers. Still, there were many class distinctions.

37. The growth of the middle class gave the poor something to hope for and work for. In this way, the colonies were different from England and the rest of Europe. In America, people could acquire property and move up the social scale.

39. At the end of a term, an indentured servant received clothes, tools, and 50 acres of land. About 1 indentured servant in 10 became a prosperous landowner, and another 1 in 10 became an artisan. v v The others either returned to their country of origin or joined a class of landless, poor whites.

40. In 1763 almost half of the colonial population came from Africa, but very few African Americans were free. During the first census in 1790, there were 60,000 free people of African ancestry and 757,000 enslaved people of African ancestry in the colonies.

41. Even in the South, free African Americans were allowed to own property, and they also could become slaveholders. Some free blacks purchased enslaved relatives and set them free. But most African American property owners were not allowed to vote or sit on juries.