WAS COLONIAL AMERICA A DEMOCRATIC SOCIETY?

House of Burgesses •  In April, 1619, Governor George Yeardley arrived in

Virginia from England and announced that the Virginia Company had voted to abolish martial law and create a legislative assembly. It became the House of Burgesses — the first legislative assembly in the American colonies.

•  The first assembly met on July 30, 1619, in the church at Jamestown. Present were Governor Yeardley, Council, and 22 burgesses representing 11 plantations (or settlements) Burgesses were elected representatives. Only white men who owned a specific amount of property were eligible to vote for Burgesses.

•  What does the House of Burgesses remind you of?

Mayflower Compact •  An agreement reached by the Pilgrims on

the ship the Mayflower in 1620, just before they landed at Plymouth Rock.

•  The Mayflower Compact bound them to live in a civil society according to their own laws. It remained the fundamental law of their colony of Plymouth until the colony was absorbed into Massachusetts in the late seventeenth century.

•  What can we infer about the Mayflower Compact?

Fundamental Orders of Connecticut •  The Fundamental Orders of Connecticut were

adopted by the Connecticut Colony council on January 24, 1639. The orders describe the government set up by the Connecticut River towns, setting its structure and powers.

•  It has the features of a written constitution, and is considered by some as the first written Constitution in the Western tradition, and thus earned Connecticut its nickname of The Constitution State

The Maryland Tolerance Act of 1649 •  The Maryland Toleration Act of 1649, was a law

mandating religious tolerance for trinitarian Christians. • Passed on April 21, 1649 by the assembly of the Maryland

colony, it was the second law requiring religious tolerance in the British North American colonies and created the first legal limitations on hate speech in the world

• Doesn’t this sound like the 1st Amendment?

WAS COLONIAL AMERICA A DEMOCRATIC SOCIETY?

Do Now: Why am I displaying these photos? What do these photos represent? Can you identify each photo (i.e. location)?

Was Colonial America a Democratic Society? •  If, “we the people,” have representatives that represent our

interests in government, what type of democracy are we? Representative or Direct Democracy?

•  Representative Democracy: is a form of democracy where representatives form an independent ruling body charged with the responsibility of acting in the people's interest. Example: The United States

•  Compared to…

•  Direct Democracy: usually refers to citizens making policy and law decisions in person, without going through representatives and legislatures: Example New England Town Meetings •  Town meetings were a place in which most or all the members of

a community come together to legislate policy and budgets for local government.

Puritans Undemocratic Ways:

•  Roger Williams: Thought it was senseless to require a religious qualification for voting. •  Called for the complete separation of church and state

•  Anne Hutchinson revealed her support of the efficacy of faith alone as they key to salvation, as opposed to the standard Puritan emphasis on good works.

•  Dissidents like Williams and Anne Hutchinson could be quietly dealt with through exile. •  If, however, they were imprisoned, executed or sent back to England,

questions would be raised about the conduct of affairs in the Bay Colony…

•  Puritans established a theocracy

Another Black Eye on the Puritans: Salem Witch Trials

• Mass Hysteria and rampant paranoia hit the New England country side…people being blamed for being witches

•  The Salem witch trials occurred in colonial Massachusetts between 1692 and 1693. More than 200 people were accused of practicing witchcraft—the Devil's magic—and 20 (men and women) were executed.

•  Following the trials and executions, many involved, like judge Samuel Sewall, publicly confessed error and guilt. On January 14, 1697, the General Court ordered a day of fasting and soul-searching for the tragedy of Salem.

What we know so far… Democratic

• House of Burgesses •  Representative Government

• Mayflower Compact •  Agreed to follow all laws

•  The Maryland Tolerance Act •  Religious tolerance •  Limitations of hate speech

•  Fundamental Orders of Connecticut •  Set structures and powers

•  Town Meetings

Undemocratic •  Institution of slavery • White land owners eligible

to vote • Women: Status

determined by the men •  Legally the dependents of

men •  No legal or political standing •  Could not own property

•  Theocracy •  Exile of dissidents (non-

conformists)

EXIT SLIP Was Colonial America a Democratic Society?