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The Beginnings of Self-Government

The American system of government has roots in English history and European political philosophy. It also has roots in the experiences of the colonists, as they struggled against nature, England, and each other to set up a system that would reflect their beliefs and meet their needs . Thus, to fully understand the American system, we must look back to the nation's beginnings.

The structure and philosophy of American government can be traced to

The First British Settlements

In the 1580s, Sir Walter Raleigh, the adventurer and writer, convinced England's queen, Elizabeth I, to allow him to establish the first British outpost in North America. He did this by sending a ship of settlers in 1585 to Roanoke Island off the coast of North Carolina.  Raleigh's attempt to create a settlement was unsuccessful . The first permanent British settlement would not be established until the 1600s.

Jamestown

In 1607, another group from London, the Virginia Company, established a trading post in Virginia . This group named its settlement Jamestown. In the first year of its existence, over 60 percent of the colony's 105 inhabitants died. In 1609, England sent over 800 new settlers. By the spring of the following year, only 60 were left. The survivors, admitting defeat, decided to return to England. Just as they were planning to depart, new supplies and more settlers arrived. The original 60 colonists changed their plans. Together, all the colonists rebuilt Jamestown, which became the first permanent British settlement in North America 

Of the six thousand people who left England for Virginia between 1607 and 1623, four thousand died. Those who survived established a type of government that would serve as a model for later colonial adventures

The king of England had given the Virginia Company a charter, a written grant of authority, to make laws "for the good and welfare" of the Jamestown settlement . Jamestown's colonists used this charter to institute a representative assembly, a lawmaking body composed of individuals who represented the population . Representative assemblies became a typical form of government in the colonies

Sir Walter Raleigh attempted and failed to create the first settlement in America at

The first successful settlement in America was at

The first settlement in America was

What gave the Virginia Company the authority to make laws for the colony?

The first government in the American colonies was

The Pilgrims and the Mayflower Compact

The Plymouth Company established the first New England colony in 1620. A group of English Protestants, the Pilgrims, sailed to North America on the Mayflower. They landed at what is now Provincetown Harbor, at the tip of Cape Cod in Massachusetts . (They later moved the ship to Plymouth, Massachusetts, which became their new home .)

Before the Pilgrims went ashore, the adult males drew up the Mayflower Compact, an agreement in which they set up a government and promised to obey its laws.  It was signed by forty-one of the forty-four men aboard on November 21, 1620. No women were allowed to sign it, nor did they have any direct part in developing it, because women at that time did not have any political status. The Pilgrims established a written document for self-government because their leaders believed that they needed a set of rules to govern themselves and prevent civil disorder. They also wanted to create a government based on the consent of the governed.

The Mayflower Compact was in fact a social contract of the type that Locke had described. It was an agreement among individuals to establish a government and to live by its rules . This particular social contract had great historical significance because it served as a prototype-a model-for similar compacts in American history

Why did the Pilgrims create the Mayflower Compact?

Because almost all of the Pilgrims signed the Mayflower Compact the government they established was based on

What philosopher advocated the type of government established by the Mayflower Compact?

What was the source of power for the government set up by the Mayflower Compact?

What was the first written constitution in America called?

The first constitutional government in the U.S. had

Which statement is true?

The basic ideas for constitutional government and a Bill of Rights were well established in each of the colonies well before the American Revolution in 1776

Early Legislatures

Not only did the colonies have constitutions, they also had lawmaking bodies or legislatures. The first was the Virginia House of Burgesses, established in 1619. By the time the colonies declared independence from England in 1776, each colony had its own representative legislature, and most of these legislatures had been operating for over a hundred years. The colonial legislatures were the schooling grounds for many of the leaders who later wrote the U.S. Constitution . The legislatures gave leaders experience in self-government and provided a model for our later political framework.

Colonial legislatures and their individual members also had extensive contact with the governing methods of the native peoples. Indeed, some of the distinctive political beliefs of American life emerged out of a rich Native American democratic tradition.

Which statement is true

What is a legislature used for?

It is clear from these readings that by the middle of the 1700’s most Americans believed in the “Divine Right of Kings.”

The Beginnings of Self-Government

The American system of government has roots in English history and European political philosophy. It also has roots in the experiences of the colonists, as they struggled against nature, England, and each other to set up a system that would reflect their beliefs and meet their needs . Thus, to fully understand the American system, we must look back to the nation's beginnings.

What is the main idea of the passages above?

The First British Settlements

In the 1580s, Sir Walter Raleigh, the adventurer and writer, convinced England's queen, Elizabeth I, to allow him to establish the first British outpost in North America. He did this by sending a ship of settlers in 1585 to Roanoke Island off the coast of North Carolina.  Raleigh's attempt to create a settlement was unsuccessful . The first permanent British settlement would not be established until the 1600s.

Jamestown

In 1607, another group from London, the Virginia Company, established a trading post in Virginia . This group named its settlement Jamestown. In the first year of its existence, over 60 percent of the colony's 105 inhabitants died. In 1609, England sent over 800 new settlers. By the spring of the following year, only 60 were left. The survivors, admitting defeat, decided to return to England. Just as they were planning to depart, new supplies and more settlers arrived. The original 60 colonists changed their plans. Together, all the colonists rebuilt Jamestown, which became the first permanent British settlement in North America 

Of the six thousand people who left England for Virginia between 1607 and 1623, four thousand died. Those who survived established a type of government that would serve as a model for later colonial adventures

The king of England had given the Virginia Company a charter, a written grant of authority, to make laws "for the good and welfare" of the Jamestown settlement . Jamestown's colonists used this charter to institute a representative assembly, a lawmaking body composed of individuals who represented the population . Representative assemblies became a typical form of government in the colonies

What is the main idea of the passages above?

The Pilgrims and the Mayflower Compact

The Plymouth Company established the first New England colony in 1620. A group of English Protestants, the Pilgrims, sailed to North America on the Mayflower. They landed at what is now Provincetown Harbor, at the tip of Cape Cod in Massachusetts . (They later moved the ship to Plymouth, Massachusetts, which became their new home .)

Before the Pilgrims went ashore, the adult males drew up the Mayflower Compact, an agreement in which they set up a government and promised to obey its laws.  It was signed by forty-one of the forty-four men aboard on November 21, 1620. No women were allowed to sign it, nor did they have any direct part in developing it, because women at that time did not have any political status. The Pilgrims established a written document for self-government because their leaders believed that they needed a set of rules to govern themselves and prevent civil disorder. They also wanted to create a government based on the consent of the governed.

The Mayflower Compact was in fact a social contract of the type that Locke had described. It was an agreement among individuals to establish a government and to live by its rules . This particular social contract had great historical significance because it served as a prototype-a model-for similar compacts in American history

What is the main idea of the passages above?

What is the main idea of the passages above?

Early Legislatures

Not only did the colonies have constitutions, they also had lawmaking bodies or legislatures. The first was the Virginia House of Burgesses, established in 1619. By the time the colonies declared independence from England in 1776, each colony had its own representative legislature, and most of these legislatures had been operating for over a hundred years. The colonial legislatures were the schooling grounds for many of the leaders who later wrote the U.S. Constitution . The legislatures gave leaders experience in self-government and provided a model for our later political framework.

Colonial legislatures and their individual members also had extensive contact with the governing methods of the native peoples. Indeed, some of the distinctive political beliefs of American life emerged out of a rich Native American democratic tradition.

What is the main idea of the passages above?