history colonisation essays

history colonisation essays A case for the connection of Americas colonial and revolutionaryreligious and political experiences to the basic principles of theConstitution can be readily made. One point in favor of this conclusionis the fact that most Americans at that time had little beside theirexperiences on which to base their political ideas. This is due to the lack of advanced schooling among common Americans at that time. Otherpoints also concur with the main idea and make the theory of theconnection plausible. Much evidence to support this claim can be found in the wording ofthe Constitution itself. Even the Preamble has an important idea thatarose from the Revolutionary period. The first line of the Preamblestates, We the People of the United States... . This implies that thenew government that was being formed derived its sovereignty from thepeople, which would serve to prevent it from becoming corrupt anddisinterested in the people, as the framers believed Britains governmenthad become. If the Bill o f Rights is considered, more supporting ideasbecome evident. The First Amendments guarantee of religious freedomcould have been influenced by the colonial tradition of relative religiousfreedom. This tradition was clear even in the early colonies, like Plymouth, which was formed by Puritan dissenters from England seekingreligious freedom. Roger Williams, the proprietor of Rhode Island,probably made an even larger contribution to this tradition by advocatingand allowing complete religious freedom. William Penn also contributed tothis idea in Pennsylvania, where the Quakers were tolerant of otherdenominations. In addition to the tradition of religious tolerance in thecolonies, there was a tradition of self-government and popular involvementin government. Nearly every colony had a government with electedrepresentatives in a legislature, which usually made laws largely withoutinterference from Parliament or the king. Jamestown, the earli...