Lesson 5: What Basic Ideas about Rights and Constitutional Government Did Colonial Americans Hold?
Why is understanding the first hundred and fifty years of American history before independence important? (Video)
Rights granted by colonial charters; period of salutary neglect; colonists' experiences with contracts; lack of colonists' ties with Great Britain; freedom before the Declaration; significant differences among colonies.
Student Questions: Unit 1, Lesson 5, Sections 1-3 (pdf download)
What similarities were there in the governments of the different colonies? (Video)
Governors' authority derived from charters; creation of advisory bodies that evolved into colonial legislatures; legislatures' voice in taxation; judicial functions of legislatures; delegations to England; tradition of the town meeting.
Did American colonists enjoy a greater range of political rights and freedoms than the average English subject? (Video)
Majority of colonists were indentured or enslaved; rights granted people who completed their indenture; property and political rights; abundance of free or low cost land; political rights more prevalent than in Great Britain and the continent; denial of rights to women.
Mayflower Compact (Video)
A reading of the Mayflower Compact.
Sailing of the Mayflower (Audio)
A radio dramatization of the voyage of the Mayflower at You Are There! Podcast.
60-Second Civics, Episode 152: Colonial Prosperity (Audio)
How some colonial Americans achieved prosperity in the New World.
60-Second Civics, Episode 151: Mayflower Compact, Part 2 (Audio)
Excerpted text from the Mayflower Compact
60-Second Civics, Episode 150: Mayflower Compact (Audio)
A discussion of the Mayflower Compact.
60-Second Civics, Episode 149: Early American Settlement (Audio)
The situation in America in the early 1600s.
60-Second Civics, Episode 148: American Colonies (Audio)
How basic ideas of constitutional government were developed and used in the American colonies.
60-Second Civics, Episode 168: Fundamental Rights and the Rule of Law (Audio)
Fundamental rights and the rule of law as aspects of colonial constitutions.
60-Second Civics, Episode 144: Writ of Habeas Corpus (Audio)
The writ of habeas corpus.
60-Second Civics, Episode 7: George Washington and Slavery (Audio)
How George Washington reconciled being a slaveholder with his leadership of a nation dedicated to freedom for all.
60-Second Civics, Episode 172: Property Requirement for Voting (Audio)
The property requirement for voting in the American colonies.
60-Second Civics, Episode 171: Colonial Governors and Courts (Audio)
The roles of governors and the courts in colonial governments.
60-Second Civics, Episode 170: Colonial Legislatures (Audio)
Characteristics of the colonial legislatures.
60-Second Civics, Episode 169: Representative Government in the Colonies (Audio)
Representative government and voting in the American colonies.
60-Second Civics, Episode 167: Colonial Constitutions (Audio)
The basic principles common to all colonial constitutions.
60-Second Civics, Episode 166: Fundamental Orders of Connecticut (Audio)
The Fundamental Orders of Connecticut.
60-Second Civics, Episode 165: Structure of Colonial Governments (Audio)
The structure of colonial governments.
60-Second Civics, Episode 164: Slavery in the Colonies (Audio)
Slavery in the American colonies.
60-Second Civics, Episode 163: Native Americans in Colonial America (Audio)
The rights of Native Americans in the colonies.
60-Second Civics, Episode 162: Indentured Servants in Colonial America (Audio)
Indentured servants in the colonies.
60-Second Civics, Episode 161: Rights Denied in Colonial America (Audio)
The beginning of a discussion of the people who did not enjoy the rights expressed in colonial documents.
60-Second Civics, Episode 160: Rights Denied in Colonial America (Audio)
The beginning of a discussion of the people who did not enjoy the rights expressed in colonial documents.
60-Second Civics, Episode 159: Rights in Colonial Pennsylvania (Audio)
Guarantees of basic rights in Pennsylvania.
60-Second Civics, Episode 158: Massachusetts Body of Liberties, Part 2 (Audio)
Continued discussion of the Massachusetts Body of Liberties.
60-Second Civics, Episode 157: Massachusetts Body of Liberties, Part 1 (Audio)
A discussion of the Massachusetts Body of Liberties.
60-Second Civics, Episode 156: Colonial Charters (Audio)
An examination of colonial charters.
60-Second Civics, Episode 155: Successful Colonial Americans (Audio)
Some examples of successful colonial Americans.
60-Second Civics, Episode 154: Class in the Colonies (Audio)
How the English class system was weakened in the colonies.
60-Second Civics, Episode 153: English Practices in America (Audio)
How some English practices that protected the landed aristocracy in Great Britain did not survive in the colonies.
