U.S. Government

Unit I

Origins of United States Government

Weeks 1-3

Focus Questions

1. What are the documents and theories that form the basis of the United States government?  How did they influence the development of U.S. government?

2. What is a constitution?  A constitutional government?  Limited and unlimited government?

3. How did the documents and theories already studied impact the Declaration of Independence?

4. How did the Articles of Confederation influence the development of the U.S. Constitution?

Vocabulary

A                                        B                                                   C

state                             unitary                                          royal colonies

nation                           federal                                          propriertary colonies     

country                         confederate                                  charter colonies

sovereign                      presidential                                   Stamp Act Cong.

Force theory                 parliamentary                                1^st Cont. Congress

Evolutionary Theory      dictatorship                                  2^nd Cont. Congress

Divine Right Theory      direct democracy                          popular sovereignty

Social Contract Theory representative democracy             limited government

public policies               Hammurabi’s Code                      ordered gov.

law of nature                 Magna Carta                              separation of powers

natural rights                  Petition of Right                          Articles of Confed.

Thomas Hobbes            English Bill of Rights                     unicameral

John Locke                   Virginia Declaration of Rights        bi-cameral

Baron de Montesquieu   Pennsylvania Constitution (1776)

Adam Smith                   Maryland Constitution (1776)

Cesare Beccaria             Mayflower Compact (1620)

Activities                                                                                Readings

Lecture notes over origins of government                               pp. 2-8

“Thinking Like Locke”  state of nature philosophy                  pp. 10-14

“Shipwreck”  life in a state of nature                                       pp.  24-30

Categories of government simulation                                      pp.  30-35

3 quizzes                                                                               pp.  36-38

1 test       

All readings to be done on own time.   Textbooks are available in the text library and to be used only in the text library not to leave the text library.