Rights of Englishmen

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Rights of Englishmen

• Why did the colonists believe they had the
  rights of Englishmen?

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Proud to be British

• When the colonists settled in the 13 colonies,
  they were proud British citizens
• They were not looking to declare independence
• The colonists happily lived as British (English)
  citizens for over 100 years before they even
  thought about revolution and independence

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British monarchy

• The colonists believed in government rule by a
  king or queen monarchy
• At the time of the colonies, Englands form of
  government was constitutional monarchy where
  power was shared by the King and Parliament
• Parliament was the law-making part of the English
  government the British people elected
  representatives to Parliament

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Limited government

• English people believed that the governments
  powers should be limited--even the king or queen
  should not have unlimited power
• In 1215 (long before the colonies) the English
  wrote the Magna Carta
• Magna Carta is Latin and means Great Charter

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Importance of the Magna Carta

• The Magna Carta was important because
• 1 it stated the idea of the rule of law which
  means that everyone even the king had to follow
  the law
• 2 it stated that government was based on a
  contract between the ruler and the people ruled
  if either side breaks the contract, it is no
  longer valid

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The English Bill of Rights

• In 1689, Parliament passed the English Bill of
  Rights and the king and queen of England agreed
  to it
• All subjects of the king or queen all British
  citizens got to enjoy these rights called the
  Rights of Englishmen

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Rights of Englishmen as stated in English Bill
of Rights

• Right to a trial by jury
• No unlawful entry into your home
• Right to be taxed only by being represented in
  Parliament
• Only Parliament could pass taxes (not the King)
• Right to elect members to Parliament freely
  (without the intervention of the King)
• Right to petition (write to) the government
• No cruel or unusual punishment

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Toward independence

• When the colonists settled in the 13 colonies
  they knew and understood their rights as
  Englishmen
• They only started to think about revolution and
  independence when they felt their rights were
  being violated
• To be continuedon the Road to Revolution!

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