Colonial Government Vs Present Government

Colonial life was very much unlike our lives today. During colonial life philosophies and what people did were very different from today. Some of which they did has had influence on our own daily lives. This meant the colonies had influence and taught us lessons on the daily life for women, daily life of children, slavery/racism and government.

A1: Though the three English colonial regions—the Chesapeake area, New England, and Pennsylvania—were all relatively close to each other, there were stark differences between them. To begin with, they all had very different government structures. In the Chesapeake area, the government closely resembled that of England where power resided in one individual. In England there was a king while in Maryland, there was a royal governor. In both cases, the ruling individual had control over all branches of the government; however, the successor of the first governor in Maryland soon realized that colonists would not enjoy fewer liberties in the colonies than at home. Hence, Cecilius Calvert gave up their rights to initiate all colonial laws and shifted power to the people by governing by their advice and with consent. On the other hand, in New England, government was theocratic in nature where church and state were synonymous and where power resided in the leaders of the church. In addition, the Pennsylvanians had a much more democratic government structure where there was a proprietor and a legislative assembly that gave the people the right to appoint government officials—one of many rights that

As America settled in with its new found freedom during the American Revolution and Early Republic, the people of the United States developed through many changes economically, politically, and socially but also many ideas progressed as time continued on. The people used what they had already established to continue their lifestyle in the states. Then again changes affected this time including their government transiting from constitutional monarchy to federal republic, slavery overtime becoming abolished, and advancing life without Britain. American advanced their own government to help keep things in order and well represented. They transitioned from a constitutional monarchy to a federal republic.

The American colonists were ruled by the British in the 17th and 18th century, and during this time Britain had the right to tax and manage commerce in the colonies as they saw fit. There comes a time when this strict enforcement of rules become a legitimate invasion of personal liberty. This is what happened in 1768 when Britain temporally dissolved the Massachusetts Assembly. From 1763 to 1768, Britain was acting reasonably in maintaining a decent relationship with the colonies. Indeed, many regulations such as the Royal Proclamation, the Stamp Act, and the Currency Act troubled the colonists, but they were required to obey because Britain held supreme authority. Britain created the colonies as an expansion of their own empire. However, starting

Although very limited, colonial America established primitive forms of democratic government. Across colonial America, early democracy began to take form. This development can be attributed to many factors, namely the desire of American settlers to distance themselves from Britain’s tyrannical government, and thus their wish to prevent this form of government form appearing in America. Other contributing factors were the democracy and egalitarianism-centered morals of the religiously devout American settlers.

The American system was hardly democratic compared to the British who was a monarch and authoritarian, American authority was different than Britain. In England, the king was the ultimate power in the colonies God was the ultimate source of authority.

In 1775, America began one of the most important moments of its life as well as history overall, the America Revolution. This war was fought to free the new colonies from the tyranny of the British monarchy and the unfair way it treated them. The fight was long and hard, but in the end the battle was won and the colonies became their own nation, left to rule under their own circumstances and set up their own government. Ironically when it came to setting this up, was in some ways, more difficult than the physical battle that came and went. The first attempt at a government blueprint came as “The Articles of confederation” which was the first written constitution and attempted to unify America under a set of rules that the citizens would better follow and appreciate. Martin Kelley quotes it as a creation of a “confederation of states whereby each state retained "its sovereignty, freedom, and independence, and every power, jurisdiction, and right . . . not . . . expressly delegated to the United States in Congress assembled." (Kelley). The failure came from its creation of independent states and as Ted Brackemyer puts it “…the lack of a strong national government in the Articles of Confederation led to three broad limitations.” These limits were economic disorganization, lack of central leadership, and legislative inefficiencies (Brackemyer).

After the Colonies defeated Great Britain in the Revolutionary war, the Americans needed to construct their own government. They then created a system that was completely different from King George’s rule. It was based on a document called the Articles of Confederation. At first, the Americans were delighted with it. However, the Founding Fathers who created it realized it had many problems, so they came together to revise them at the Constitutional Convention, which happens to be where our modern constitution comes from.

First, there were problems regarding governments. After so many years of neglect colonists got use to self-government. They were accustomed to making their own rules as shown by Document G, where the colonists declared their rights, “entitled to life liberty and property.” Also, colonists refused to be taxed without any representation as it is “essential to the freedom of people… that no taxes be imposed on them but with their own consent.” (Doc. B)

Our country was built heavily on liberty. We take liberty for granted, but the founders of our country actually didn’t. They, as colonists of the British colonies, were not given the liberty we now have. They had no representation in their government, and sometimes unfair laws toward them were passed without their opinion. A well-known act of Parliament, the Townshend Acts, was an important law in colonial times, and it partly led to the revolution of the United States of America.

American history has had many ups and down especially between 1730 to 1770. The country had been recently colonized and the colonists were just beginning to establish a government where a set of rules would be included that the people had to follow. During this time period, many colonists were aiming for a government system where they can have representation within it and be treated fairly. Most of the time that did not turn out to be the case. American people did not feel comfortable with the idea of a powerful authority making decisions for them. Instead, they wanted to have a chance to have a voice for themselves and to be heard everywhere around the world. Colonists felt like they were just as important in making necessary decisions as was the Parliament. When the Parliament (during the Stamp Act) tried to take away the colonists rights for a fair jury and had imposed a stamp on paper products. They were furious with Britain's decisions and wanted the Stamp act to be changed immediately. In many of the present documents; the topic of freedom and gaining independence from authority came several times. Americans wished to have a voice and some type of representation in Parliament; they were tired of not being able

In the early years of the colonies the concept of liberty would increase over time. According to Rights of Colonial Citizens video, “Colonists in America saw the same rights that citizens in England did.” The colonists thought the had the same rights, even though they still came to America. The colonists, in the end did get the same rights as the English and gained more rights, such as being able to petition the king and a right to trial by jury. In Rights Of Colonial Citizens video stated, “The most important was the right to have a voice in government...The English people had long struggled to gain the right to participate in government…

There are many similarities between the colonial government and our present government. There are also many differences. Our congress is a bicameral legislature, meaning that it is made up of two branches of government. Our congress is made up of the House of Representatives, and the Senate. Back then, their government was called Parliament, and it was made up of the House of Burgesses, and the Council of State.

English colonists came to North America, they brought with them English ideas about government. These ideas had been developing in England over hundreds of years. ... The English had a tradition of representative government, in which people elect people (who do things for other people) to make laws and conduct

When America obtained independence from Great Britain more than two hundred years ago, the founding fathers envisioned a small, conservative, national government with restricted responsibilities. Their principles were mainly focused around the Bible and were the basis of the Constitution and government. Their goal was to have a limited government, with little interference in the lives of the citizens. In America today, government and society are distant from Biblical and conservative views. Consequently, we have seen a drastic change from conservatism to liberalism. Our founding fathers never envisioned a country with legalized abortion, racism issues, political corruption, high taxes, gay rights, government controlled programs, and many other