Early Colonial America: Jamestown, Plymouth, and the Seeds of Democracy

Since 1200 Parliament limited the power of the King or queen of england. The King still had more power than parliament but the people were becoming more powerful. The major change was the King could only set new taxix with parliament´s consent. England benefits from having colonies because colonies would provide new markets for english products and important raw material for english industries. European governments wanted to créate colonies for mercantilism. Jamestown was the first permanent settlement for England in North America. IT was very poor and John Smith was sent over in 1608. He was very strict.The rule was He who works not, eats not. Jamestown boomtown for the cas crop tobacco. A representative government is a form of government in which voters elect people to make laws for them. The House of Burguesses was the first representative government in North America. The house of Burguesses could pass laws and set taxes. Pilgrim is a person who takes a religious journey. Maryflower Compact was a set of rules for the pilgrims to live by and it was designed to establish rules for the colonistsComparing  Jamestown and Plymouth (4 points):  Jam and Ply both had difficult times making through the Winter. Both colonies were educated and assited by Native Americans. Both colonies were located very close to the Atlantic coast. Both colonies had colonists who were from England.  Contrast Jameston and Plymouth (3 points each other) Jamestown: Become profitable off  of tobacco. They were funded and ran by Virginia Company. They developed the House of Burguesses which was focused on laws and taxes. Plymouth: founded by people on religious journey in search religious freedom. The Maryflower Compact focused on a goverment that establish an equal laws. Their colony focused more around religión and family.  Jamestown was  focused in economics and money. Plymouth was focused on religión and family. Backcountry. It Was a western frontier extending through several colonies, form Pennsylvania to Georgia.Magna Carta: It Was the first document to place restrictions on an English ruler´s power ( Limited the monarch´s rights to levy taxes without consulting the nobles, Protected the right to own private property Guaranteed the right to trail by Jury. At first was only limited to nobles but overtime the rights were extended To all english citizens.Legislation in Colonial government: a legislatura is a group of people who have the power to Make laws. In England they Established the legislative known as Parliament. In Colonial america, there was the house of burgesses in Virginia and the General Court in Massachusetts. Today is called  Congress. Bill of Rights(4points): A bill of righst is a little list of Freedoms that a governemt promises to protect for its citizens.  Habeas Corpus is the principle that a person Can not be held in prison without being charged with a specific crime. The first two Legislatives groups for the english colonists were the House of Burguesses, (1619) In Virginia and General Court (1629) in Massachusetts.Freedom of the Press. A notable court case in 1735 Helped establish freedom of the press. John Peter Zenger, Publisher of the New York Journal, was arrested for printing a series of articles that criticized The governor.