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Our Political Beginnings

Explore how English legal heritage shaped U.S. government with key concepts and historical documents like Magna Carta, Petition of Rights, and Glorious Revolution. Understand the principles of limited government, rule of law, and individual rights. Learn about the evolution of representative government and the establishment of fundamental rights safeguarded in the English Bill of Rights. Delve into the historical roots that influenced the American political system.

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Our Political Beginnings

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  1. Our Political Beginnings The English Constitution

  2. English Constitution: BasicallyUnwritten • Rule of Law had come down from Babylonians (Hammurabi’s Code), the Bible and the Romans

  3. English Colonists Brought Three Concepts that Shaped U.S. Govt. • Ordered government: predictable & regulated relationships with one another • Limited government: government restricted in what it may do. Individual has rights • Representative government: people should have a voice in deciding what the government should and should not do

  4. English Government Traced to Landmark Documents: Magna Carta • In 1215 CE King John was waging unsuccessful wars and heavily taxing his subjects. • Barons sick of it and at Runnymede force him to sign the Magna Carta • Guaranteed barons the right to trial by jury, the due process of law, & arbitrary taking of their property. • Originally applied only to them, but gradually became the rights of all English people • Importance: King’s power limited

  5. More Landmark Documents: Petition of Rights (1628) • Some English kings observed Magna Carta; some did not. • Charles I did not; fervent believer in divine right of kings; did not want to listen to Parliament • Charles I did want more money for taxes in order to wage war • Parliament refused until he signed the Petition of Rights • This document guaranteed that even a king must obey the laws of the land

  6. Petition of Rights: The King is Not Above the Law • Reaffirmed the Right to a trial by jury of his peers or by the law of the land • King could not declare martial law in peacetime or force citizens to keep soldiers in their homes (quarter troops) without the consent of the owner • No man can be forced to pay or loan money to the government or pay taxes without an Act of Parliament

  7. The Glorious Revolution & the Bill of Rights • Charles I went on to ignore the Petition of Rights • Eventually the fight between himself and Parliament ended in civil war • Charles I ended up losing his head • A dictatorship under Oliver Cromwell was set up & was unpopular • The monarchy was restored but James II was unpopular • People asked William and Mary of Orange to rule instead: Glorious Revolution • They signed Bill of Rights

  8. English Bill of Rights Guarantees: • Trial by jury • Due process of law • Right of private property • No cruel or unusual punishment • No excessive bail or fines • The right to bear arms • The right to petition the monarch….and not be punished for petitioning

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