.
Milestone political documents that moved the colonies from the mayflower Compact to the Constitutional Convention: (p.32-37).
1. The Mayflower compact of 1620 was a political agreement derive from the consent of the people.
2. The Fundamental Orders of Connecticut, 1639, was the first written constitution.
3. The Massachusetts Body of Liberties, 1641, was the first constitution to include protection of individual rights.
4. The Pennsylvania Charter of Privileges, 1701, contained a constitution and bill of rights and offered a precedent and rationale for our national Constitution.
5. The Declaration of Independence, 1776, advocated independence from Great Britain.
6. The Articles of Confederation, 1781, described the first attempt at an independent national government based on a confederation.
Events that led to the Revolutionary War: Conflict between Britain and the American colonies began in the 1760s when the British government decided to raise revenues by imposing taxes on the American colonies, to pay for the French and Indian War. .
In 1764, the Sugar Act was passed, and may colonist were unwilling to pay the required tax. In 1765, the British Parliament passe the Stamp Act, providing for internal taxation, which colonists named "taxation without representation". The colonists boycotted the purchase of English commodities, and the Stamp Act was repealed a year later. .
When the British resumed attempts to tax other items, colonists became furious. The dressed as Mohawk Indians and dumped almost 350 chest of British tea into the Boston Harbor as a gesture of tax protest. In retaliation, the British Parliament passed the Coercive Acts in 1774, closing Boston Harbor and placing the government of Boston under direct British control. This action eventually led to the Revolutionary War.
Chapt. #3 - Three systems of government:.
1. Unitary System: A centralized governmental system in which local or subdivisional governments exercise only those powers given to them by the central government.
