Governing the Colonies

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Objectives

• Explain how English political traditions
  influenced the 13 colonies.
• Describe the responsibilities of early colonial
  governments.
• Identify John Peter Zengers role in establishing
  freedom of the press.
• Understand how the Navigation Acts affected the
  colonies economy.

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Terms and People

• legislature a group of people who have the
  power to make laws
• bill of rights a written list of freedoms that
  a government promises to protect
• habeas corpus the principle that a person
  cannot be held in prison without being charged
  with a specific crime

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Terms and People (continued)

• freedom of the press the right of journalists
  to publish the truth without restriction or
  penalty
• libel the publishing of statements that damage
  a persons reputation

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How did English ideas about government and trade
affect the colonies?
All English colonies shared a common English
heritage, and that heritage included the idea
that citizens had political rights.
England also promoted the theory of
mercantilismthat colonies existed to benefit
their parent countrybut some colonists began to
question that theory.
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In 1215, English nobles forced King John to sign
the Magna Carta, which was the first document to
place restrictions on an English rulers power.
The rights listed in the Magna Carta were at
first limited to nobles.
Over time, the rights were extended to all
English citizens.
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Parliament Parliament
Great Council Under the Magna Carta, nobles formed a Great Council to advise the king, and this body developed into the Parliament.
Two-House Legislature Parliament was a two-house legislature. The House of Lords was made up of nobles who inherited their titles. Members of the House of Commons were elected, but only a few rich men and landowners had the right to vote.
Taxes Parliaments greatest power was that no monarch could raise taxes without its consent.
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In the 1640s, power struggles between King
Charles I and Parliament led to the English Civil
War.
Parliamentary forces eventually won the war,
executed the king, and briefly ruled England.
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In 1660, the monarchy was restored, but
Parliament retained its traditional rights.
In 1688s Glorious Revolution, Parliament removed
King James II from the throne and invited his
daughter Mary and her husband William to rule.
A condition of their rule, however, was that they
sign the English Bill of Rights.
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The English Bill of Rights

• restated many of the rights granted by the Magna
  Carta.
• upheld habeas corpus.
• required that Parliament meet regularly.

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The legal rights that Englishmen had won over the
centuries led the colonists to expect a voice in
their government.
By 1760, every British colony in North America
had a legislature of some kind, although the
legislatures sometimes clashed with the colonial
governors appointed by the king.
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Virginia and Massachusetts Virginia and Massachusetts
Virginia From 1619, the House of Burgessesthe first legislature in British North Americamade laws for the Jamestown Colony.
Massachusetts Massachusetts set up a legislature called the General Court in 1629. In 1634, Massachusetts colonists gained the right to elect delegates to the General Court.
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The British government gave William Penn outright
ownership of Pennsylvania.
But in 1701, the colonists forced Penn to agree
that

• only the General Assemblynot Penn or his
  councilcould make laws.
• only the king could overturn laws passed by the
  General Assembly.

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British and colonial governments were similar in
some ways, but they had important differences.
Great Britain American Colonies
King Governor
Inherited executive power Appointed by and served the king but paid by the colonial legislature
Parliament Colonial Legislatures
House of Lords Aristocrats with inherited titles also inherited legislative power Upper House or Council Appointed by governor Prominent colonists but without inherited titles
House of Commons Elected by men who held significant amounts of property Less than 1/4 of British men qualified to vote Lower House or Assembly Elected by men who held property About 2/3 of colonial men qualified to vote
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In the colonies, 50 to 75 percent of white men
could vote, which was a far greater percentage
than in England.
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Another important right for American colonists
was the freedom of the press.
In England, writers who criticized the government
were punished, even if what they said was true.
However, a trial in the colonies granted writers
new freedom to publish the truth.
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John Peter Zenger, publisher of the New York
Weekly Journal, was charged with libel for
printing articles that criticized the governor.
Jurors found Zenger not guilty because the
articles he published were based on facts.
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The Zenger case helped establish the principle
that a democracy depends on well-informed
citizens.
Therefore, the press has a right and a
responsibility to keep the public informed of the
truth.
Today, freedom of the press is recognized as a
basic American liberty.
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While colonists maintained some important rights,
they felt burdened by Britains economic policies.
Under the theory of mercantilism, colonies
existed in order to enrich their parent country.
In 1651, the English Parliament passed the first
of several Navigation Acts, laws designed to
funnel the colonies wealth to England.
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Pros and Cons of the Navigation Acts Pros and Cons of the Navigation Acts
Pros Colonial traders had a sure market for their goods in England. The law contributed to a booming shipbuilding industry in New England.
Cons Many colonists began to resent the Acts because they thought the Acts favored English merchants at the colonists expense. Some colonists thought they could make more money if they were free to sell to foreign markets themselves. Some colonists smuggled goods to foreign markets to avoid the Navigation Acts.
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