Essential Question

• How did Enlightenment ideas impact English government?

English Political Heritage

Principles of English Government

1. Limited Government

2. Representative Government

Magna Carta

• “Know that we, at the prompting of God and for the health of our soul and the souls of our ancestors and successors, for the glory of holy Church and the improvement of our realm, freely and out of our good will have given and granted to … all of our realm these liberties written below to hold in our realm of England in perpetuity.”

Magna Carta

• Signed by King John in England in 1215

• Forced by his nobles to limit the power of the king

• Why?

Limited Government

• The power of a monarch or government is not absolute

• Protect citizens against unjust actions

Parliament

• English representative government

Petition of Rights

• 1628

• Limited the power of the king in favor of Parliament

Glorious Revolution

• 1688

• Parliament removed King James and crowned William and Mary

English Bill of Rights

• Signed by William and Mary who swore to govern England according to the laws of Parliament

English Bill of Rights

1. Monarchs do not have absolute authority but rule with the consent of the people.

2. The monarch must have Parliament’s consent to levy taxes or maintain an army

3. People have the right to petition the government, speedy trial with a jury.

4. No cruel and unusual punishment.

Representative Government

• People elect delegates to make laws and conduct government

Enlightenment Philosophers• 17th century

• Influenced American thinkers

Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan

“The sovereign exists because the majority has consented to his rule; the minority have agreed to abide by this arrangement and must then assent to the sovereign's actions.”

Thomas Hobbes

• Social Contract Theory

• Individuals with equal rights have agreed to give up some of these rights in exchange for protection of their rights

John Locke

• Two Treatises of Government

John Locke

“Men being, as has been said, by Nature, all free, equal, and independent . . . puts on the bond of Civil Society by agreeing with other Men to join and unite into a Community, for their comfortable, safe, and peaceable living one amongst another, in a secure Enjoyment of their properties, and a greater Security.”

John Locke

• What happens if the people of a society no longer like their government?

Montesquieu

• The Spirit of Laws

The Spirit of Laws

“When the legislative and executive powers are united in the same person, or in the same body of magistrates, there can be no liberty; because apprehensions may arise, lest the same monarch or senate should enact tyrannical laws, to execute them in a tyrannical manner.”

Montesquieu

• Proposed a constitutional government and a separation of powers into three branches of government

Flow of Ideas

• In your course writing notebook, create a flowchart of English and philosophical ideas (with their authors) that laid the groundwork for the tenets of the American Revolution: