Whole Unit Review

The Origins of Government

Aristotle

  • Born 384 BC in Stagira, Greece

  • Outlined 3 types of Gov:

  1. Democracy - Ruled by the people

  2. Oligarchy - A ruling group of people

  3. Autocracy - One ruler


Democracy

Types of Democracy

  • Comes from the people, there are 2 types: 

  1. Direct - the will of the people is translated into public policy through mass meetings

  2. Indirect - Representative Democracy; People choose people to make and execute laws

    1. Participatory Democracy - Elected officials serve as delegates (Typical Representative Democracy)

    2. Pluralist Democracy - No single group can dominate because there are multiple (Like how a wall can lose a stud and be fine)

    3. Elite Democracy - a few wealthy people hold political power


Enlightenment Philosophy


  • Important people: John Locke, Baron de Montesquieu, and Thomas Hobbes

  • Promoted science and reasoning

John Locke

  • Believed people are born with natural rights - life, liberty, and property

  • Purpose of the Gov is to protect rights. If Gov fails at this, the citizens have a right to overthrow it

  • Social contract theory (voluntary) - A society gives up some freedom to gain some security.

  • Wrote The Second Treatise of Government

  • Born in England, 1632

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

  • Also helped define the social contract theory

  • Basically John Locke

Thomas Hobbes

  • Lived through English Civil War

  • “Even the strongest must sleep; even the weakest might persuade others to help kill another.”

  • People live in a “war of all against all.”

  • Absolute government authority is essential to prevent civil war

  • Wrote Leviathan

  • Born in England 1588


Baron de Montesquieu

  • Charles de Secondat

  • 3 types of Gov:

    • Monarchy

    • Republic

    • Despotism

  • For a Gov to be successful, there needs to be a balance of power between the king, parliament, and courts

  • Wrote The Spirit of the Laws

  • Born in Bordeaux, France 1689

  • Separation of powers/Checks and balances


Political Precedents

The Magna Carta


  • King John was forced to sign the Magna Carta in 1215

  • Its protections include:

    • Trial by jury

    • Due process of law - Protection from the arbitrary taking of life, liberty, and property. 

Origin

  • Nobles staged a coup

  • They went to France for support, to which they agreed


The Petition of Right

  • Parliament’s power was growing, and, by 1628, King Charles needed it to provide more tax money. Parliament refused until he signed the Petition of Right.

  • It limited the king’s power by: 

  1. Ending unlawful imprisonment

  2. Ending martial law in peaceful times

  3. Ending quartering of troops


The English Bill of Rights

  • In 1688, Parliament offered the crown to William and Mary of Orange, if they agreed to the provisions of the English Bill of Rights, which was signed in 1689.

  • It limited the monarchy by:

  1. No standing army in peaceful times

  2. Free elections of Parliament

  3. Right to a fair trial

  4. Freedom from excessive bail and cruel and unusual punishment


Origin

  • William locked the doors so Parliament could not meet

  • Nobles went to his daughter (Mary) who lived in the Netherlands

  • Nobles confront William for change

  • William said no at first, but eventually was forced to agree

The Purpose of Government

  • There are six functions that governments serve:

  1. Form a More Perfect Union - After the failure of the Articles of Confederation, the Constitution was built on the belief that there is strength in a union

  2. Establish Justice - Law must be reasonable, fair, and impartial

  3. Insure Domestic Tranquility - Enforcing order

  4. Provide for the Common Defense - Defending a nation against foreign enemies (Military)

  5. Promote the General Welfare - Provide services and regulate certain industries (EMS/911, roads, schools, trash pick-up, utilities, etc.)

  6. Secure the Blessings of Liberty - Make sure that each generation secures liberty and freedom


Government vs. Politics

  • Government - the institution through which a society makes public policy

  • Politics - a process that determines the leaders selected and the policies they choose

  • Political Culture - the characteristics and beliefs of a particular people about government and politics


Core Elements of Political Culture

  • There are 6 important elements in the American political system:

Liberty

  • Americans believe in freedom and the right to do as they please as long as they don’t hurt other people.

Equality

  • Americans believe that everyone should have an equal vote and an equal chance to succeed

    • Equality of outcome (Communism)

    • Equality of opportunity (Capitalism)

Popular Rule

  • Americans think that government officials should be accountable to the people


Civic Duty

  • Americans feel that people should be involved in their community.

    • Jury duty

    • Community service

    • Voting

    • Running for office

    • Contacting Representatives


Individualism

  • Americans feel that individuals are responsible for their own actions and well-being.


Capitalism

  • An economic system in which investment in and ownership of the means of production, distribution, and exchange of wealth is made by private individuals and corporations

    • In contrary to:

      • Socialism

      • Communism


Free Enterprise/Laissez Faire Economics

  • Economic system where individuals and businesses are allowed to compete for profit with a minimum of government interference


Colonial Beginnings

  • Jamestown

    • The first permanent colony

    • Created for profit (Gold) but they did not find any gold where they landed

    • They went from one of the most technologically advanced city in the world at that time to an backwater empty marshland with literally nothing

    • They were saved by tobacco which became their profit

    • People were going back and forth and trading

  • Plymouth

    • Started because the Puritans wanted to leave the Anglican church

    • King Henry wanted to divorce his wife but he could not until he created his own church

    • The Puritans didn’t like the Catholic church because it didn’t explicitly follow the Bible

    • They left to the Netherlands but left because their kids were becoming too Dutch for them

    • Puritans got off course and ended up in Massachusetts, but before they could get off they had to create laws called the Mayflower Compact (first american signed agreement)

The House of Burgesses

  • First elected legislative assembly in the colonies

  • Established in Virginia in 1619

  • First goal was to set a minimum price for tobacco

  • Met once a year and could make laws

    • Laws could be vetoed by King-chosen governor

Fundamental Orders of Connecticut

  • Adopted by the Connecticut council on January 14, 1638

  • It is considered the first written constitution in Western history


Types of Colonies

Royal Colonies

  • New Hampshire, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia

  • The king named a governor and council

  • King is in control because he elects the governor

  • The council became the upper house of legislature, and the lower house was elected

  • Laws passed by the legislature had to be approved by the governor and the crown

  • Council was basically a copy of Parliament

  • Upper council - King

  • Lower council - people


The Proprietary Colonies

  • These were colonies that were organized by a proprietor. 

  • The king granted land.

  • Maryland (Lord Baltimore), Pennsylvania (William Penn), Delaware (William Penn)

  • These were governed like the royal colonies, except the proprietor chose the governor


Charter Colonies

  • Connecticut (Thomas Hooker) and Rhode Island (Roger Williams, named capital providence because God’s providence allowed him to survive the Puritans in Plymouth and he moved there)

  • Charters were granted in 1662 and 1663

  • Theses colonies were essentially self-governing

  • Colonists elected governors

  • Governors could not veto laws, and the king’s approval was not needed

  • Legislature appointed the judges




The Stamp Act Congress

  • It was called in response to the Stamp Act of 1765

  • Adopted the Declaration of Rights and Grievances and wrote letters of petition to the King and Parliament

  • The Stamp Act was repealed, but London passed laws to tie the colonists closer to London

  • Stamp Act

    • Created after the cost of the French and Indian War

    • One of the first real taxes that the British enforced

    • Some people smuggled stuff out and sold it while the British Government ignored it prior

    • People hated it

  • Sons of Liberty used nigh terrorist tactics

    • Attacked tax collectors

    • If they resisted, they would tar and feather them (covered in burning pine sap that caused them get 2-3 degree burns)

    • Others would see and not resist

    • The king needed to stop this because otherwise the rest of the British Empire could see that it only takes a little bit of violence to free themselves of the British


Tension-building Events

  • Tensions increased, especially in port cities:

    • Boston Massacre (1770)

      • 5 people died, but a grey area and was used as propaganda

    • Boycotting: refusal to by British Goods

    • Committees of Correspondence (1772)

      • Group of Pony Express/Mail Riders

    • Boston Tea Party (1773)

      • Destroyed nearly $100,000 (~$7 million today)

      • Townshend Acts (1767)


Order of Events Leading to the Revolution

  • Townshend Acts→Boycott→Boston Tea Party→Intolerable Acts→First Continental Congress→Second Continental Congress→War

Townshend Acts

  • Proposed many taxes for items such as tea, sugar, glass, etc.

  • Boycotted

  • All taxes except for tea


Intolerable Acts

  • These were a series of acts that were meant to punish the colonists for the Boston Tea Party:

    • Boston Port Act - closed the port of Boston until the East India Company received payment for the destroyed tea

      • Can’t import or export because of it

    • The Administration of Justice Act - declared that a British official who killed a colonist while performing his duty to the crown would be tried in England

    • Massachusetts Government Act - modified the colony’s charter of 1691, which gave the crown more control over government there

    • New Quartering Act - provided for almost unlimited quartering of soldiers

    • Quebec Act


Colonist/Revolutionary Conventions

The First Continental Congress

  • The First continental Congress was called in response to the Intolerable Acts

  • Delegates from every colony except Georgia was there

  • They met for 2 months

  • Drafted a list of grievances


The Second Continental Congress

  • The Second Continental Congress met on May 10, 1775. Then the Revolution had already begun

  • All government made during the Revolution was made by these people

  • Only Legislative branch

  • Some members:

    • Benjamin Franklin

    • John Hancock (president)

    • George Washington (commander in chief)

    • Thomas Jefferson


Our First National Government

  • The second continental congress became the first national government

  • It remained fo 5 years

  • The congress was unicameral, and it had both legislative and executive powers

The Declaration of Independence

  • Richard Henry Lee proposed a complete break with Great Britain

  • Congress named Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Roger Sherman, Robert Lingingston, and Thomas Jefferson to draft a document. It was mainly the work of Jefferson, with much of John Locke’s influence

  • Adopted on July 4, 1776



French Help

  • Benjamin Franklin convinced France to help America

    • Got french troops, french navy, and french training

      • Had influence into French Revolution because France lost a lot of money from this war