the influences of primarily English law and government and Enlightenment philosophers on colonial government and society in the New World.

1. Influences on the American
Government
Our European Heritage

2. The Magna Carta

3. The English Magna Carta
(Background)
For centuries, England was ruled by a
monarch – a king or queen

4. However, Monarchs had very little power
as part of the Feudal System

6. The real power lay with the
nobles on the manor

7. The monarch gave a powerful noble class
ownership and control of land in
exchange for loyalty, tax payments, &
military support

8. King John (1199) treated the nobles
harshly & they rebelled

9. John was forced to sign the
Magna Carta in 1215

10. Magna Carta:
Latin for the “Great Charter”

11. Magna Carta was written on
parchment in 1350!

13. Magna Carta
(the significance)
• It protected noble privileges & upheld their
authority
• It granted rights to all landowners
• Rights included equal treatment under the law
and trial by one’s peers

14. It was a contract that limited the
monarch’s power by guaranteeing that no
one, not even the king or queen, is
above the law

15. The Magna Carta helped establish the
principle of Rule of Law

16. The English Parliament

17. The word Parliament comes from the
French and means a “talk” or “parley” –
a conference of any kind

18. The Model Parliament of
Edward I
(1295)

19. Included all classes of the kingdom:
barons, higher
clergy, knights, burgesses, and lower
clergy

20. Initially, it was set up to advise
the monarch

21. The English Parliament
By the late 1300’s, Parliament had developed
into a law-making body

22. Conflict between the Crown
and Parliament

23. The Tudor monarchs cooperated well
with Parliament

24. Elizabeth’s death (1603) ended Tudor rule
and the Stuart dynasty takes over

25. The Stuarts were unpopular monarchs

26. James I does not get along well with
Parliament

27. Charles I, James son, disbanded Parliament
& ruled for 11 years without it

28. Needing money, Charles I recalled
Parliament

29. Parliament made demands on Charles I
and then Civil War breaks out

30. The English Civil War
(1642 – 49)

31. Roundheads – supported Parliament

32. Cavaliers – supported the monarch

33. Most members of Parliament were
Puritans
(Protestant Christians who opposed the
Church of England as too Catholic)

34. The English Civil War is also known as
the Puritan Revolution

35. Parliamentary troops, led by Oliver
Cromwell, defeated the king’s armies

36. King I Charles Stuart is put on trial
for treason

37. Charles I is found guilty and is beheaded

38. The monarchy is over
(for the time-being)

39. Oliver Cromwell, a very strict Puritan, took
over and ruled as military dictator for
ten years

40. Cromwell rules England as
“Lord Protector”
(Cromwell is not too popular)

41. This period of English history is known as
The Protectorate
(1649 – 1660)

42. After Cromwell died, his son Richard took
over and had trouble maintaining control
He was forced out and II Charles
Stuart, the son of Charles I, was asked to
return to England to rule as a monarch

43. The Restoration
(1660 – 1688)

44. Charles II took over in 1660 and the
monarchy was restored (“restoration”)

45. The “Restoration” is the return of the
monarchy in England
(1660 – 1668)

46. Charles II cooperated pretty well with
Parliament and ruled for 25 years

47. After Charles II died in 1685, James
II, the brother of Charles II, took over the
throne in 1685

48. James II immediately had clashes
with Parliament

49. The Glorious Revolution
(1689)

50. When James II raised his son openly as a
Catholic (in violation of English law),
James II was forced out in a relatively
bloodless revolution
(1688)

51. Parliament asked William & Mary
(of the Netherlands) to come to England
to rule jointly

52. But, William and Mary had to agree to the
English Bill of Rights

53. The English Bill of Rights put limits
on the monarch’s power and
made Parliament supreme

54. The English Bill of Rights stated that the
monarch could not suspend Parliament

55. It also stated that the monarch could not
create special courts, impose taxes,
or raise an army without
Parliament’s consent

56. It also declared that members of
Parliament would be freely elected and
be guaranteed free speech during
meetings

57. The Bill of Rights also guaranteed that
every citizen would have the right to a fair
trial by jury in court cases

58. The English Bill of Rights also banned
cruel and unusual punishments

59. The English Bill of Rights established a
Limited Constitutional Monarchy
(what England has today)

60. The writing and signing of the English Bill
of Rights in 1689 is known as the
Glorious Revolution

61. Many of the English Bill of Rights have
been written into the
United States Constitution

62. English Common Law

63. Early on, England had no written laws
except rules to live by established
by tradition

64. As a system of courts arose, the
courts’ decisions
became the basis of a body of law

65. When judges were asked to decide a
case, they would look for a precedent, or
a ruling in an earlier case that was similar

66. This system of judge-made law based on
precedent and custom is called
Common Law

67. Judges are bound by precedent

68. If a judge rules against a precedent, his
decision will be overturned on appeal

69. We, too, have a system of Common law –
judge-made law based upon precedent

70. We also have Statutory law –
laws written by legislative bodies

71. European Absolutism
(1600s)

72. Britain’s limited constitution monarchy
contrasted with Absolutism on the
European continent

73. Louis XIV, the king of France, embodied the
greatest period of Absolutism

74. Most absolute monarchs thought they
received their power to rule from God

75. This is called the
Divine Right theory

76. Others, like Thomas Hobbes, defended
absolutism to avoid the state of nature

77. In an absolutist society, the ruler has
unlimited authority and is not checked
by any one

78. The people are viewed as subjects
with no rights

79. The monarch can do whatever
he pleases
In this view, the monarch is
above the law

80. The Enlightenment
(1700s)

81. Leading writers during the 1700s began
to challenge Absolutism and the Divine
Right theory of government

82. These writers were called philosophes

83. They thought that government received its
power from the people

84. This idea is called
Popular Sovereignty

85. They also thought that the people have
the right to revolt against
unjust/tyrannical government

86. This is called
Popular Revolution

87. A new idea of government emerged – the
Contract Theory or government

88. In this view of government, the people are
citizens who have inalienable rights
(rights that cannot be taken away)

89. In this view, the people and the
government enter into a contract:
The people willingly empower the
government in return for protection
of natural rights

90. What are these rights?
• “Life, liberty, & property” – John Locke
• “Life, liberty, & the pursuit of happiness.” –
Thomas Jefferson
• “Liberty, property, security, and resistance to
oppression.” – The Declaration of Rights of Man
& Citizen (French Revolution)

91. This is called Natural Rights theory

92. Other Enlightenment ideas

93. These writers also wrote about
separating power into three branches
of government

94. They believed that these three branches
of government should check and balance
the others

95. Our Founding Fathers
read many of their works

96. John Locke: Two Treatises on Government
(Natural Right theory & Popular Revolution)

97. Jean Jaque Rousseau: The Social Contract
(Popular Sovereignty & Popular Revolution)

98. Baron de Montesquie:
Spirit of the Laws
(three branches of government / separation of
powers / checks & balances)