Enlightenment And The Zenger Case Analysis

Written documents proved to be a major influence on the unification of the American colonies. Beginning as early as 1620, when the Separatist Pilgrims left the jurisdiction of the Church of England and escaped the “Dutchification” of their children in Holland to go to the New World, the establishment of self-government through the Mayflower Compact became present. It was heavily based off of the Magna Carta of 1215 which provided the foundation of the rule of law. Created and signed by the adult males onboard, the document stated that the Pilgrims would “combine [themselves] together into one civil body politic, for [their] better ordering and preservation” (Document 1). It went on to declare that they would abide by the newly formed laws and elect officers. This led to the creation of town meetings, places of direct democracy where men could work together with each other to create laws.

First, England wanted to let American Colonists make their own Government and they did. The colonist from colonies in Massachusetts made their Government around religious ideas, in Pennsylvania made theirs around religious tolerance, and Virginia made the first elected government call the House of Burgess. At The House

     Building on English foundations of political liberty, the colonists extended the concepts of liberty and self-government far beyond those envisioned in the mother country. While Englishmen had some representation in their parliament, Americans took the system further. All colonies had some form of a two-house parliament system. Some, like New York, had governors appointed by the crown. Others, like Rhode Island, elected their own. Local government also varied between the colonies. The southern states had a strong County government, while the New England colonies relied on town-meeting government. In either case, voting was reserved to land-owning white men.

people. There was a desire by many colonists to form a government based off democratic

Politically, Virginia and New England differed in the basis of their governing systems. Virginia focused on the desire of its individuals: “(t)hat our governors by reason of the corruption of those times they lived in, laid the foundation of our wealth and industry on the vices of men.” This standard of government was an early precursor to democracy and allowed Virginian’s to feel the rights of being freemen. New England, instead of basing their government on the individual desires of man, governed the colony on the basis of Christianity. The New England settlers strongly believed the spirit of God would deliver them and create greatness in the colony: “the God of Israel is among us, and ten of us shall be able to resist a thousand of our enemies. The Lord will make our name a praise and glory.” The colony wanted to be set above the rest, or in other words,

During 1608s and 1763s, North American Jamestown and Massachusetts Bay colonists developed knowledge in, and the anticipation of, self-government in the political, economic, social and religious aspects of their lives.

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

Another field of influence for American Democracy lies in the English .English rule passed the English Bill of Rights in 1689, a similar declaration of which can be found in the American Bill of Rights. The English were also the first superpower to institute rule by Parliament. Parliament is a form of legislature in which power is distributed between two "Houses" (House of Commons and the House of Lords). The American system of Checks and Balances between three separate institutions (Judiciary, Executive and Legislative) owes its existence primarily to the English Parliament. Over the centuries, English influence on American government has been great, and today these influences can still be seen in everyday American life, The Colonial Experiences encountered by early American citizens before the revolution have impacted contemporary United States Government. For example, The Virginia House of Burgesses was the first instance of representative democracy in the New World. It involved a form of Congress, with 2 representative politicians per state. Smaller towns and outposts held town meetings, in which a fairly primitive form of

• Began with a General Court, then to a colonial legislature, consisting of a governor and a two-house legislature. Property owning, adult male, church members were the only ones who could vote.

Colonists were practicing a democratic features in colonial america time because Great Britain is hundreds of miles away. Democracy in colonial America was in a work in progress with democratic and undemocratic features.

The freedoms and opportunities enjoyed by the colonists after the American Revolution were not simply established as much as they were fought tooth and nail for. The colonists between the 15th and 18th century faced much turmoil in which they had to overcome in order to become the success they sought after. Many of these freedoms and opportunities came at a cost to other people and cultures as the colonists paved their way to a new society. To gain full benefits of their freedoms, the colonists would also have to explore new ideals to shape the way they run their lives in order to be true successes. These successions can be tied back to the first Native American treaties.

For the New England colonies like Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island, they had the Mayflower Compact. Their political and government structure had a interrelation between politics and religion. It dictated the economic, political, and social lives of colonists. Each town had meetings, elected legislatures, debated, and issued laws. Voting was allowed to white men who went to church. New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware, or the Middle Colonies, elected representatives to assemblies. The assemblies would then elect government officials which passed laws and did the decision makings. The Middle Colonies had religious tolerance that was founded by William Penn and practiced by the Quakers and it played a minor role in politics and economy. For the Chesapeake colonies, the House of Burgesses was founded in Jamestown where

Lastly, another influencial example of the democratic activities of English colonists is the Virginia House of Burgesses (Document 6). The House of Burgesses was the very first legislature and would play a key role in the development of legislatures in other colonies. Furthermore, the representatives were chosen by eligible voters, giving the people their own voice in government, comparably to the present-day United States elections. The House of Burgesses, though it only had 22 representatives, would act as a “rough draft” for modern

Rhode Island and Pennsylvania were examples of the two most democratic colonies of colonial America. Not all of the colonies were like this. For example, in (1629) non-separatists Puritans left from England and started a new colony called the Massachusetts Bay Colony. People who did not agree with their views were often banished. Anne Hutchinson was one of these people who were banished. She was banished because she argued against the Puritan belief of predestination. She had a trial and from there was forced out of the colony. Another person that was kicked out of the colony was a man named Roger Williams. Williams was exiled from the colony because he was found to have “new and dangerous opinions” that disagreed with already established Puritan beliefs. Also, men that were not a part of a Puritan congregation could not vote in provincial elections. Freedom in this colony was somewhat limited.

From 1607 to 1754, people’s views on governing themselves changed greatly. It began in 1607, with the settlement of Jamestown. They were a corporate colony, working for the Virginia Company, they were whole-heartedly British. The Great Awakening, the Enlightenment, and the Tradition of Neglect all introduced new ways for the American colonies to think of themselves as more independent. Although they still considered themselves part of the British Empire, by the end of this era they had discovered that they could make their own laws and constitutions that fit the way that their world worked as opposed to Great Britain.