The Colonies Come of Age

The Colonies Come of Age

Mr. Rankin

Apetizer

Imagine that you lived in a house on your own and that your parents or guardians lived in a house in another town. In spite of this, you are still expected to follow your parents’ or guardians’ rules. How easy or difficult would it be for your parents or guardians to enforce those rules? Why?

How Does It Relate?

Great Britain owned the American colonies, and so, in theory, Parliament and the king were in control of the colonial government. However, the colonies and England were separated by an ocean, which made it difficult for the English government to rule the colonies, even with royal governors in place. As a result, the colonists established their own forms of government, inspired by British democratic traditions such as individual rights, representative democracy, and rule of law.

Open Ended

How do you think the English colonists felt about being governed by a distant English government?

Terms to Learn

• Democracy: A government in which the people have the power to make political decisions.

• Magna Carta: A document written in 1215 that established certain rights of English citizens and institutions.

• Parliament: The lawmaking bodies of Great Britain and many other nations around the world.

• English Bill of Rights: An act, passed by the British Parliament, that lists the rights of the English people and the rules that English monarchs had to follow.

• Monarch: A single person who rules a nation and achieves that position through heredity.

British Government

Before the colonies were established, Britain had a long history of representative government. A representative government is a form of government in which people elect leaders, called representatives, to stand in for them.

British Government (cont.)

The English Bill of Rights, passed in 1689, further limited the power of the monarchy and increased the power of Parliament. The Bill of Rights prevented the king from passing a law without Parliament’s consent and increased the people’s representation in England’s government.

Multiple Choice

A document, signed by King John of England in 1215, that made the king subject to the law and limited his power.

• Magna Carta

• Parliament

Multiple Choice

The English Bill of Rights was passed in what year?

• 1215

• 1679

• 1689

• 1698