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What Experiences Shaped the Founders' Thinking About unit TWO What experiences shaped the Founders’ thinking about government? unit TWOkEY iDEAS Articles of Confederation In the last unit, you learned some important ideas and questions concerning inalienable rights government. You studied natural rights philosophy, republicanism, and popular sovereignty constitutionalism. These were the ideas that influenced the Founders of our nation rule of law and helped shape their views about government. In this unit, you will learn more about the Founders. You will read about the experiences that shaped their thinking about government. You will study their values and the things they believed were important. You will also learn why they thought a new constitution was necessary. How did constitutional government develop in Great Britain? Constitutional government developed in Great Britain over LESSON a period of many centuries. In this lesson you learn how the PURPOSE6monarchy came to share power with the nobles.You will study some documents that limited the power of the British government. This study will help you to better understand our ideas about limited government. When you finish this lesson, you should be able to describe the struggles for power between the English monarch and Parliament. You should be able to explain how these struggles led to a system of separated powers and representative government. You should also be able to describe some of the important constitutional documents in British history that influenced the writing of our constitution. TERMS TO UNDERSTAND common law rule of law English Bill of Rights of 1689 rights of Englishmen feudalism Magna Carta Parliament Petition of Right of 1628 Why did the American • security from unlawful entry colonists have the rights into one’s home of Englishmen? • no taxation without consent Before the American colonies became The rights of Englishmen were estab- independent, the colonists were subjects lished during centuries of British history. of the British monarchy. As subjects of These were certain basic rights that all the king or queen, the colonists enjoyed subjects of the English king or queen the rights of Englishmen. All subjects of were believed to have. They included the king or queen had these rights. The • the right to a trial by jury colonists knew and understood their rights as Englishmen. The colonists’ experiences with British William the Conqueror brought a government greatly influenced what system for governing called feudalism. they thought about limited government. Feudalism was a system of social, For our study, it is important to under- economic, and political organization. The stand these rights and how they developed system was based on the control of land. over time. It is also important to remember Under feudalism, the people in England that the constitution of Great Britain is belonged to one of three social groups. not a single written document. Instead, 1. Royalty. This was the king and queen it is made up of long-established prac- and their families. Government by tices known as common law and laws a king or queen is a monarchy. passed by Parliament. Common law is based on custom and the decisions of law 2. Nobility. This group included the courts. Parliament is the legislative body “lords” and “ladies” who held titles of British government. such as earl, duke, duchess, and baron. The noblemen worked for the What were some important rights monarchy and made it possible for of Englishmen? the king or queen to control England. 3. Common people. These were What was the feudal system? the rest of the people. This group included the knights, or soldiers of Until 1066, each region of England had the king, merchants, and peasants. its own ruler. William the Conqueror The peasants were also known as from France invaded England in that serfs. They farmed the land and year and became king of all the regions. What problems, if any, might arise from dividing society into social groups? 54 were not free to leave the area in Why is the Magna Carta an which they worked. important document? All public land in England belonged to Under the feudal system, it became the monarch, but it was too much land a custom or tradition for the royalty to for one person to rule. So, the monarch share some of its power with the nobility. gave some responsibility for governing As a result, the nobles became used to the kingdom to the nobility. Under the having certain rights and powers. When feudal system, the nobles controlled parts King John tried to take back some of of the land as well as the people who lived these rights, the nobles rebelled. there. In exchange, the nobles pledged The nobles were powerful enough to to be loyal to the king and to go to force King John to sign an agreement war for him. with them in the year 1215. This The nobles further divided the land agreement is the Magna Carta, or Great into smaller areas. A nobleman assigned Charter. The Magna Carta was a major control of the land and people living on it step in the growth of English constitu- to men called vassals. The vassals in tional government. The Magna Carta turn owed the nobleman loyalty and was perhaps the most important early military service. example of a written statement of law For the system to work, it depended on limiting the power of a ruler. The Magna a series of agreements or contracts. There Carta contains two important ideas that had to be contracts between the monarch influenced the Founders. and the nobles. There also had to be contracts between the nobles and 1. Government is based on a contract vassals. Each contract included rights and between the ruler and people to be responsibilities that the parties owed to ruled. Government by contract also one another. Thus, feudalism introduced includes the idea that if either side the idea of government based on a con- breaks the contract, that contract tract. Those in power pledged to respect is no longer valid. the rights of the people who gave them loy- 2. Both government and the governed alty. must obey the law.This is called The feudal system was important to the rule of law. The law limits the the development of constitutional powers of government. The king government. It was during this period could not take away the property that the monarchs started to share of a noble without following agreed- power with the nobles. upon procedures and rules. The Who ruled the serfs? Who owned the Magna Carta expresses the idea of land they worked? Could they move to a limited government by requiring the better situation if they were not happy king to govern according to farming for a particular noble? established rules of law. 55 IDEAS FOR DISCUSSION How do these rights limit • No constable [officer] or other bailiff [sheriff] of ours shall take the power of government? the corn [grain] or other chattels Each of the rights listed below was a [personal property] of any one right of Englishmen listed in the Magna except…he gives money for them. Carta. Work with a partner or in a group • To none will we sell, to none deny of three students. Read the statements or delay, right of justice. below and respond to the four questions that follow them. 1. What is the meaning of each statement? • For a trivial [minor] offence, a free man shall be fined only in 2. What right does the statement proportion to the degree of his guarantee? offence, and for a serious offence 3. Why is this right important? correspondingly. 4. Explain how this right limits • No free man shall be taken, or the power of government. imprisoned…exiled, or in any way harmed…save by the lawful judgment of his peers [equals] or by the law of the land. 56 What is the relationship between the Magna Carta and constitutional government? The Magna Carta was a contract Why was the creation of between the king and the nobility. Most of the people in England were not a part Parliament important? of this agreement. But, the Magna Carta Important changes in the English is an early step leading to the idea that government caused the establishment government should be based on a of other basic principles of government. contract that includes all the people. These principles are the separation of Government by contract means that powers and representative government. both sides of the agreement are responsi- In 1258, the nobles forced the king ble for fulfilling its terms. The Magna to create an advisory council. This council Carta states that the king cannot deprive was called Parliament. Parliament is the nobility of their rights. The nobility, the legislative branch of the English in return, must support and obey the government. It was made up of two king and the laws. houses that represented the most power- ful groups in the kingdom: the House of Lords and the House of Commons. The 57 House of Lords represented the nobles. What was the The House of Commons represented people who owned large amounts of English Bill of Rights? land but were not nobles. In 1689 Parliament passed the English Gradually during the next centuries Bill of Rights. This law gave certain rights the role of Parliament grew. Its members to Parliament that further limited the were no longer simply advising the powers of the monarch. It said among monarch, they were representing the other things that elections to Parliament interests of their regions. For hundreds must be free and that the people have of years after the creation of Parliament, the right to petition the king.
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