5.14

=media type="custom" key="29529729" align="right"= =Explain the development of colonial governments and describe how these developments contributed to the Revolution = Image to the right shows the Massachusetts Bay Colony seal, granted by King Charles I in 1629 which included the authority to make and use a seal. It featured an Indian holding an arrow pointed down in a gesture of peace, and the unlikely words "Come over and help us," emphasizing the missionary and commercial intentions of the original colonists
 * **

Topics on the Page

 * Colonial Governments and Voting **
 * ** The Albany Plan of Union **
 * ** The Virginia House of Burgesses **
 * The Peter Zenger Trial of 1735 and Freedom of the Press **
 * Town Meetings in New England **
 * ** Old South Meeting House in Boston **
 * Women's Participation in Colonial Political Life **

**Colonial Governments and Voting In Early America**

 * [|Emergence of Colonial Governance] offers a brief background on government in the 13 colonies.**


 * See [|American Colonies] for a comparative look at colonial governments in the colonies from teacher Greg Feldmeth, Polytechnic School, Pasadena, California**

**The Albany Plan of Union**

 * [|Albany Plan of Union (1754)]was the first framework for organizing the colonies under one centralized government.**
 * ** It was written by Benjamin Franklin. **
 * ** Click here for a five minute video explaining the [|Albany Plan of Union] **
 * ** Click here for a text copy of the [|Albany Plan of Union] **


 * [[image:Rotating_globe-small.gif link="http://www.understandingrace.org/history/gov/colonial_authority.html"]][|The first slave codes]were adopted by the Virginia colonial government. Follow the link for a timeline of slave code implementation. **
 * See here for information on how free blacks were treated and interacted in [|Colonial Virginia]

[|Here] is an interactive timeline of African American history, with important events listed by the year in which they occurred.

See [|here] for maps of Native American tribes around the time of the American Revolution, and maps of the 13 colonies.


 * Click [|here] for an article about how crimes were punished in the colonies. **


 * [|Colonial Williamsburg] provides information about how democratic institutions functioned before the American Revolution. Key points include: **

====== The first representative assembly in English America convened in Jamestown's church July 30, 1619 in Virginia.
 * This was called **The House of Burgesses **.

[|The Virginia House of Burgesses:]

 * Established by Virgnia's Governor George Yeardley
 * There were 23 original members, including the governor
 * Only property-owning white men could participate

See here for a more interactive page on the [|House of Burgesses]

 By the mid-1700s, representative government had become a tradition in the thirteen colonies that became the United States.

Voting was commonplace, though not uniform and involved about 10 percent of the population. See [|Who Voted in Early America?] from the Constitutional Rights Foundation
 * Typically, only free white, male property owners twenty-one or older could vote.
 * Member of a predominant religious group
 * Freeholder, meaning the person owned land worth a certain amount of money
 * Slaves, women, jews, Catholics and men too poor to be freeholders could not vote

Colonists generally did not vote for their governors. The English king appointed most governors, although Connecticut and Rhode Island voters elected governors.

See here for a list of [|American Colonial Governors]

This [|article] talks about early voting in America, and just how far we were from the democratic society we are today.


Click here to learn about William Penn, leader of the Pennsylvania colony who established a model for religious tolerance.

===The Peter Zenger Trial of 1735 === The case of Peter Zenger was a landmark decision in the freedom of the press, showing how freedoms that Americans take for granted today were not always present and had to be fought for to be gained.
 * The case led to a change in the law that paved the way for the First Amendment to the Constitution.
 * Zenger had been taken to court on the charge of libel. At the time, a libel was a libel regardless of its veracity.
 * This case set legal precedents that a) a libel is a libel if it is determined to be false, and b) evidence may be entered in an attempt to prove the truth of the libel.
 * See [|here] for information on the facts and events surrounding the case, and an activity about libel.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">According to the Encyclopedia of American Civil Liberties, the Zenger case was important for the following reasons:
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">After Zenger's case no governor in the American colonies ever dared to bring a libel case against a colonial printer. There was simply no hope of winning. By the time of the American Revolution the Zenger case was etched in the minds of the patriots as an example of how arbitrary government could trample the liberties of Americans.
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">A number of provisions of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights fight their roots in the Zenger case. The case highlighted the need for an independent judiciary that served during good behavior, rather than at the pleasure governor. Thus, the U.S. Constitution provides life terms for judges.
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The case underscored the value of grand jury indictment, to prevent the government from trying its enemies. The Fifth Amendment would do just that. Zenger sat in jail for over eight months because the politically motivated judge demanded such a high bail. The Eighth Amendment addressed that issue. Zenger's lawyers were disbarred because they insulted the judge. The Sixth Amendment right to counsel helps prevent that. The sheriff tried to stack the jury, but the sixth amendment provides for an impartial jury.
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Finally, Zenger was prosecuted for publishing attacks on the Governor; the First Amendment presumably prevents such prosecutions

See here for an informational video on [|The John Peter Zenger Trial]

Click [|here] to learn about the powers of governors in the colonies.

**Town Meetings in New England**

 * [[image:rotating gif.gif width="43" height="43"]]For more, see United States Government 3.10 and Grade 5.8**
 * Colonial Meeting Houses were center to the everyday life in colonial New England.
 * They were mandatory and discussed important matters of the town.
 * They became so powerful and important in the communities.
 * They are credited with creating the spark of the American Revolution.

Click [|here] to view a list of all the old colonial meeting houses throughout New England, ranging in construction dates through well before to just after the American Revolution.

Hereis a video that shows what Meeting Houses looked like, as well as what their purpose was.

The **<span class="wiki_link_ext">Old South Meeting House ** in Boston is a perfect example of the town meetings.
 * It held religious services, but also held public meetings to discuss the British.
 * In the Meeting House, colonists voiced their concerns about British taxes and other policies.
 * Huge numbers turned out for these meetings.
 * The Old South Meeting House was also the location where the colonists gathered to discuss the Boston Massacre, plan the Boston Tea Party, and was later trashed by the Redcoats.



Click here for a letter written by Thomas Hutchinson to a Boston town meeting explaining he could not stop the British tea shipments.

Women in Colonial Political Life
Link here for info on **Lydia Taft**, who is thought to be the first female voter in Colonial America.
 * Her husband, Josiah Taft, owned the largest estate in Uxbridge, Ma. He was also an important town politician and representative. Their oldest son died in 1756 after becoming ill with the flu, and Josiah died shortly after.
 * The town was holding a very important election to decide on how to support the French and Indian War. Traditionally, only male landowners were allowed to vote, but an exception was made in the case of the Taft family.
 * Since the family was so rich and powerful, Lydia was allowed to vote because she was the head of the household. With this vote, she was the first female voter in Colonial America.

Also, click [|here] to view the roles of men and women in colonial society, how these roles were enforced, and punishments for those who did not adhere to them. Click [|here] for a US History Crash Course video about Quakers and women in colonial America.

See The Early Republic wiki page for more information on Republican Motherhood and how it evolved from the pre-revolutionary period.

To learn about and read the poetry of the famous colonial poet Anne Bradstreet, click [|here]


 * [[image:Female_Rose.png]]See USI.33 and USII.9 for more on women's participation in politics and gaining the right to vote.**


 * Click here for a packet from New York state on the Revolutionary War. Includes information, lesson plans, and graphic organizers. Features a project that has the students present arguments for or against joining the Revolution in a "town meeting".


 * Click [|here] for a 5th grade learning activity about the First and Second Continental Congresses.

See here for letters between John and Abigail Adams, where Abigail pleads with him and the rest of the Continental Congress to [|"Remember the Ladies"]


 * For a learning activity about the difference between Loyalists and Patriots, click [|here]

Image IDs from left to right
1.[| Zenger Trial] America.gov, "The Trial of John Peter Zenger". 2. Wikimedia Commons, "Constitution". 3. The House of Burgesses-http://www.socialstudiesforkids.com/articles/ushistory/houseofburgesses.htm 4.Town Meetings- http://www.nhlgc.org/publications/item_detail.asp?TCArticleID=49