What are the influences of the founding era of the

• Colonial Traditions
• Colonial charters were granted their own legislative (law-
making) authority, local courts, and emerging free markets.
However, during the reign of King Georgie III, many of these
privileges were revoked. With increasing population and
increasing control/taxes from England, the colonists were at a
Which of the three concepts
mentioned above do you feel is the
most important? Why?
What are the influences of the
Founding era of the United States?
boiling point

2
American Colonial Life
• By 1700, the population of the English colonies exceeded over 250,000
inhabitants (roughly the same as Orlando, FL today)
• The Navigation Acts
• 1651 provided that all goods imported to England, or the
colonies, must be owned and crewed by Englishmen (colonists
were Englishmen)
• 1660 provided that all commodities (such as sugar, tobacco, and
indigo) can only be sold to England or other colonies
• The British Monarchy
• As usurpations, beheadings (Charles I, 1649), and the
establishment of Cromwellian Commonwealth, many colonies
had to become self-reliant
• With the reestablishment of the Stuart line as monarch, many
policies and charters were revoked from the colonies
• Colonists protested, leading to more taxation, more military
involvement
Think as a Political Scientist
The United States is a limited government — one kept under control by law, checks
and balances, and separation of powers . A limited government respects people’s
individual liberties and steps in when necessary to resolve conflicts when individual
liberties collide with some opposing force —another individual’s liberties or the
public interest, for example.
Describe how the principle of limited government applies to each of the following
scenarios.
The state government establishes laws governing the legal age to drive.
A case before the Supreme Court determines whether a person can be fired for
being LGBTQ+.
Declaring Independence
• American-British tensions rose to new heights in the early 1770s
• Colonists protested taxation without representation
• British responded by sending military force
• British suppressed self-rule and enacted economic punishments
with unfair trails and imprisonment
• Second Continental Congress (Summer 1776, Philadelphia)
• Richard Henry Lee offered a motion to declare American
Independence
• Days of debate ensued, ultimately resulting in a commissioned
committee (Jefferson, Adams, Franklin, Sherman, and
Livingston) to draft an official statement of the colonists’ views
• July 4, 1776
• Drafted by Jefferson, the document was submitted to the Second
Continental Congress on July 1, 1776
• After debate, 85 revisions and deletions were made
• On July 4, 1776, the document was signed and became the
Declaration of Independence. This provided a moral and legal
justification for the rebellion