Introduction to American Government

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Introduction to American Government
Mrs. Lori Cheney August 2008
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WHAT WOULD YOU DO IFTHERE WERE NO RULES?
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Because people live in communities, there is a
need for rules and law from a government to
keep the people living safely and in peace.
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DEFINITIONA government is a combination of
laws and customs that people live by.
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Original Colonies

• Massachusetts
• New Hampshire
• New York
• Rhode Island
• Connecticut
• New Jersey
• Delaware

• Maryland
• Virginia
• North Carolina
• South Carolina
• Georgia
• Pennsylvania

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As the needs of the original colonists grew,
there was a need for a more detailed
government.
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The United States government was ______ because
the colonists did not like the way they were
treated by the ______.

• EXAMPLES
• Restrictions on trade
• Taxes on sugar, stamps and tea
• Restrictions on goods to be produced

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Timeline to Independence

• 1774 First Continental Congress
• List of grievances to British Parliament
• April, 1775 Battle of Lexington Concord
• May, 1775 Second Continental Congress
• Revolutionary War already began
• Did not originally plan for independence
• June, 1775 Battle of Bunker Hill

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Timeline (continued)

• January, 1776 Common Sense published by Thomas
  Paine
• Mocked idea of monarchy
• Spring, 1776 Committee created to write
  Declaration of Independence
• July 4, 1776 Adoption of The Declaration of
  Independence

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The Declaration of Independence
Thomas Jefferson
John Hancock
Ben Franklin
John Adams
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Basis of The Declaration of Independence

• John Locke
• Second Treatise on Government
• Radical thought for the time
• Government can be established only by the people
  and can govern only with their consent

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The Declaration of Independencewww.constitutionl
ive.com
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Three main ideas of The Declaration of
Independence

• Humans possess rights that cannot by given away
  or taken away
• People create governments to protect these rights
• If a government fails to protect peoples rights
  or becomes a threat, people can and should change
  the government

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Omissions in The Declaration of Independence

• Slavery
• Women
• 3. Native Americans

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Summary
The early American separation from England was
due to a need and desire for equality, freedom
and justice. It would take many years and trials
before a working government would be created for
the new country.