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Roots of Democracy
in the Colonies
• Where did ideas of democracy come from?
Athens (Greece)
The concept of democracy, or
government by the people,
began in the city-state of Athens
(in what is now Greece) between
750 B.C. and 550 B.C. Athens had
a direct democracy, one in which
all eligible citizens participated in
government.
Ancient Rome
The concept of republican
government was established by the
ancient Romans. In a republic,
voters elect representatives
who speak and act for other
citizens in the business of
government. Representatives are
supposed to work for the common
good; sometimes called
representative democracy.
“I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of
America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation
under God, indivisible, with liberty, and justice for all.”
Influences on Colonial Governments
(and ultimately U.S. Government)
• The Magna Carta (1215): English document that placed
limits on the power of the king to rule.
• English Bill of Rights (1689): established that
representative government and rule of law outweighed the
power of any monarch (king).
• The Enlightenment (17th and 18th centuries): Philosopher
John Locke believed in natural rights, social contract
(people agree to form a state and have a government that
will protect their natural rights) with a government that
exists only with the consent of the governed.
• French philosophers Baron de Montesquieu and JeanJacques Rousseau also influenced ideas on government.
Colonial Self-Government:
Colonial Assemblies & Local Gov't
• Mayflower Compact (1620): the first governing document of
Plymouth colony. It was a contract in which the colonists
consented to be governed by a government which they created. It
was the first plan for self-government and majority rule in the
colonies.
• Fundamental Orders of Connecticut (1639): first developed
by the Connecticut colony to describe the powers and structure of
the government set up by the Connecticut River towns.
• House of Burgesses (1619): first representative lawmaking
body in Jamestown colony, Virginia. Led to the creation of a
bicameral (two house) legislature.
• New England Town Meetings: allowed citizens to govern
themselves through direct democracy.