What shaped the founders thinking

about government?Our English Roots

Many of the ideas that the Founding Fathers used in

creating the government of the United States of America came from documents or ideas

relating to (or in contrast of) England

Feudal England (circa 1066) in very simple terms

King gives nobles power/land

Nobles pledge to go to war and fight for the king

Nobles give land to knights

and peasants and vow to

provide protection for them

Peasants give a portion

of their crops to their vassal or

noble; Knights give their military

services

Feudalism

• The feudal system depended on a series of agreements or contracts in order to be successful. • Each contract included rights and responsibilities that

the parties owed to one another• Feudalism introduces the idea of a system of

government based on a contract •During the time of feudalism the monarchs started to

share power with the nobles.

The Magna Carta 1215

•Under feudalism it was custom for the royalty to share power with the nobility• King John comes to power and did

not want to share anything! • The nobles rebelled! •Nobles forced King John to sign the

Magna Carta (also known as the Great Charter) in 1215 • The most important early example of a

written statement of law that limits the power of a ruler

Magna Carta

•The document protected the nobles privileges and upheld their authority•Granted certain rights to all landholders (including equal treatment

under the law)• It guaranteed that no one would be above the law, not even the king

or queen (rule of law!) •This was a big deal because:• It introduced the concepts of limited government, rule of law, and

due process. • It also helped create the nation’s Parliament (kind of like Congress in

the U.S.).

Creation of Parliament

• In 1258 the nobles forced the king to create an advisory council called Parliament • Parliament is the lawmaking (or

legislative) body of the English government• It was made up of two houses:

• The House of Lords (represented the nobles) • The House of Commons (represented

people who owned large amounts of land)

Petition of Rights 1628• The role of Parliament grew over the next centuries • Parliament began to represent the interests of specific regions• In 1628 the king tried to pressure the people for money without the consent of

Parliament (Parliament felt that this was very sneaky of him and got upset!) • As a result, Parliament forced the king to agree to the Petition of Rights of 1628.• The petition stated that:• king could only raise taxes with the consent of Parliament• No longer allowed the king to house his soldiers in the homes of the people

(quartering)• Strengthened the idea that English subjects had certain rights that the

government could not violate

The Glorious Revolution 1688

• In 1688 Parliament removed King James II from the throne and invited his daughter Mary and her husband William to rule instead • In doing so, Parliament demonstrated that it was now stronger than the

monarch

• This was a peaceful transfer of power (no war) and is called the Glorious Revolution• From this time on, no ruler would have more power than the

legislature.• To clarify the new relationship, Parliament drew up the English Bill of

Rights

The English Bill of Rights 1689

•In 1689 Parliament passed the English Bill of Rights. • Gave certain rights to Parliament that

further limited the powers of the monarch

•It said that Parliament must be free and that the people have the right to petition the king • Petition: To formally request

something

English Bill of Rights Limits Monarch’s Power • The English Bill of Rights said that the monarchy was no longer

allowed to: • Collect taxes without the consent of Parliament• Interfere with the right to free speech and debate in

Parliament• Maintain an army in peacetime • Prevent Protestants from having arms for their defense• Require excessive bail or administer cruel punishment for

those accused or convicted of crimes • Declare that laws made by Parliament should not be obeyed

The Virginia House of Burgesses

• The first permanent English settlement in North America was Jamestown (1607)• It was founded by a group of merchants from London with a charter

from King James I.

• In 1619 the colonists choose two representatives from each county to meet with the governor and his council.• These 22 men were called burgesses, and they formed the

House of Burgesses, the first representative assembly or legislature, in the English colonies.• The House of Burgesses had little power but it marked the beginning

of self government in colonial America

The Mayflower Compact 1620• The Pilgrims arrived in Plymouth (Massachusetts) in 1620• Their ship, The Mayflower, got blown off course and they

landed in territory not controlled by their charter so they needed rules! • They drew up a written plan for government (self-government) • Forty-one of the men aboard signed the Mayflower Compact

which stated:• Just and equal laws for the general good of the colony• The signers would obey those laws • Set up a direct democracy (established this tradition in

New England and you can see it through town meetings where citizens meet to discuss and vote on important issues)