Evolution Of The American Government
The American government was not always what it is today. Our first form of government was set up by Great Britain when they colonized the North American continent, and it was heavily based off of the English government. However, the colonists were displeased with the treatment they received from Britain so they started a revolution to gain independence. The colonists succeeded, and they formed their own democratic government. Over time, that government gradually evolved into the government it is today. In this video, we will be examining the different time periods of our government.
King John inherited the throne in 1199, where he ruled over the land of England. The nobles were disrespected and treated as lowly peasants. In 1215, the nobles rebelled and decided to write a document known as the Magna Carta. This document upheld the nobles’ rights and …show more content…
privileges and upheld the authority that they deserved. The King was forced to sign the agreement. King Henry III was the ruler after King John, and decided to meet on a regular basis with groups of nobles and church officials to help govern the land. These groups formed into a legislature, known as Parliament. They were a lawmaking body that developed in the late 1300’s. They worked with the current and following monarchs for the next 2 centuries, until Parliament decided to demonstrate that they were more powerful than the monarch.
The Parliament set up Common Law, which set the basis for a court of law. When the judges were assigned a case, they would look for precedent, a similar case that had already reached a ruling.
In 1492, Christopher Columbus “discovered” America. During that time period, it was common belief that the Earth was flat, but Christopher Columbus sought to prove that the Earth was a globe. Columbus’s plan was to sail around the globe and map a trade route to India. However, Columbus accidentally discovered the American continents thinking it was India.
Great Britain and the rest of Europe soon realized that that was not India and was actually a brand new continent. Those European countries immediately started exploring the continent and establishing colonies. A colony Artiis a group of people that are ruled by a founding country elsewhere in the world. In 1607, Great Britain founded the first European colony in America, Jamestown in what is now the state of Virginia. By the end of Britain’s colonization, there were thirteen major colonies: Georgia, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Connecticut, Maryland, South Carolina, New Hampshire, Virginia, New York, North Carolina, and Rhode Island.
The colonists were unhappy with the treatment they received from Great Britain. They were overwhelming taxed on a wide range of basic goods including paper and tea. These taxes led to the forming of a group who opposed the british government, the Patriots. The patriots used various methods of protest like boycotting and public displays of defiance. The most famous act of protest by the colonists was the Boston Tea Party when a group of Patriots dressed up as Native Americans and dumped 92,000 pounds of tea into the harbor.
Tensions rose between the colonies and Great Britain, and the colonists decided to use good old fashioned violence and take their independence, causing the start of the Revolutionary War.
In 1776, a year after the start of the Revolution, the Second Continental Congress was held and the delegates drafted the Declaration of Independence, a document that stated Britain’s wrongdoings and declared that the colonies would no longer be controlled by them.
The people held a continental congress in which they wrote up the Articles of Confederation. People did not want a repeat of Britain’s tyranny so they created a system where the national government had very little power. This handicapped the progress of the new country because states could ignore any law passed by the federal government, and every state had their own currency. The Articles of Confederation caused America to plunge into an economic depression.
They soon realized that this form of government was not working, as they decided to do away with the Articles of Confederation. And so, the Constitutional Convention was born. Over 50 delegates were chosen
to
King John inherited the throne in 1199, where he ruled over the land of England. The nobles were disrespected and treated as lowly peasants. In 1215, the nobles rebelled and decided to write a document known as the Magna Carta. This document upheld the nobles’ rights and …show more content…
privileges and upheld the authority that they deserved. The King was forced to sign the agreement. King Henry III was the ruler after King John, and decided to meet on a regular basis with groups of nobles and church officials to help govern the land. These groups formed into a legislature, known as Parliament. They were a lawmaking body that developed in the late 1300’s. They worked with the current and following monarchs for the next 2 centuries, until Parliament decided to demonstrate that they were more powerful than the monarch.
The Parliament set up Common Law, which set the basis for a court of law. When the judges were assigned a case, they would look for precedent, a similar case that had already reached a ruling.
In 1492, Christopher Columbus “discovered” America. During that time period, it was common belief that the Earth was flat, but Christopher Columbus sought to prove that the Earth was a globe. Columbus’s plan was to sail around the globe and map a trade route to India. However, Columbus accidentally discovered the American continents thinking it was India.
Great Britain and the rest of Europe soon realized that that was not India and was actually a brand new continent. Those European countries immediately started exploring the continent and establishing colonies. A colony Artiis a group of people that are ruled by a founding country elsewhere in the world. In 1607, Great Britain founded the first European colony in America, Jamestown in what is now the state of Virginia. By the end of Britain’s colonization, there were thirteen major colonies: Georgia, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Connecticut, Maryland, South Carolina, New Hampshire, Virginia, New York, North Carolina, and Rhode Island.
The colonists were unhappy with the treatment they received from Great Britain. They were overwhelming taxed on a wide range of basic goods including paper and tea. These taxes led to the forming of a group who opposed the british government, the Patriots. The patriots used various methods of protest like boycotting and public displays of defiance. The most famous act of protest by the colonists was the Boston Tea Party when a group of Patriots dressed up as Native Americans and dumped 92,000 pounds of tea into the harbor.
Tensions rose between the colonies and Great Britain, and the colonists decided to use good old fashioned violence and take their independence, causing the start of the Revolutionary War.
In 1776, a year after the start of the Revolution, the Second Continental Congress was held and the delegates drafted the Declaration of Independence, a document that stated Britain’s wrongdoings and declared that the colonies would no longer be controlled by them.
The people held a continental congress in which they wrote up the Articles of Confederation. People did not want a repeat of Britain’s tyranny so they created a system where the national government had very little power. This handicapped the progress of the new country because states could ignore any law passed by the federal government, and every state had their own currency. The Articles of Confederation caused America to plunge into an economic depression.
They soon realized that this form of government was not working, as they decided to do away with the Articles of Confederation. And so, the Constitutional Convention was born. Over 50 delegates were chosen
to