We The People i-Rights of Englishmen

The U.S. Constitution
session i
Rights of Englishmen

major points of this session
the “uncollected” English constitution
“Before the white man came…”
the colonial experience
1676; the end of American independence
the road to 1776
the state constitutions

the “uncollected” English
constitution

“You will observe that from Magna Charta [sic] to the Declaration
of Right, it has been the uniform policy of our constitution to claim
and assert our liberties, as an entailed inheritance derived to us
from our forefathers, and to be transmitted to our posterity; as an
estate specially belonging to the people of this kingdom, without
any reference whatever to any other more general or prior right.”
Edmund Burke (1729-1797), Reflections on the Present Revolution in France, 1790

The British have an “unwritten constitution.” Rather, it is
better thought of as an “uncollected constitution.” A series
of historical legal landmarks define the shape of the British
government.
jbp

Magna Carta, 1215
1209-1213--Richard the Lionhearted’s
“wicked brother,” John (Robin Hood’s
arch enemy) fell afoul of his nobles and
Pope Innocent III
the perennial enemy France also
threatened invasion
January 1215-the barons made an oath
that they “would stand fast for the
liberty of the church and the realm”
10 June-with the support of Alexander II
king of the Scots and the City of
London, King John was brought to terms
ARTICLES
OF THE
BARONS
THE
GREAT
SEAL
RUNNYMEDE
15 JUNE 1215

The 1215 charter required King John of England to proclaim
certain liberties and accept that his will was not arbitrary
clauses still in force:
I -We have granted to God, and by this our present Charter have conﬁrmed, for Us and our Heirs for ever,
that the Church of England shall be free, and shall have all her whole Rights and Liberties inviolable. We have
granted also, and given to all the Freemen of our Realm, for Us and our Heirs for ever, these Liberties under-
written, to have and to hold to them and their Heirs, of Us and our Heirs for ever.
XIII -the City of London shall have all the old Liberties and Customs which it hath been used to have.
Moreover We will and grant, that all other Cities, Boroughs, Towns, and the Barons of the Five Ports, as with
all other Ports, shall have all their Liberties and free Customs.
XXXIX -NO Freeman shall be taken or imprisoned, or be disseised of his Freehold, or Liberties, or free
Customs, or be outlawed, or exiled, or any other wise destroyed; nor will We not pass upon him, nor
condemn him, but by lawful judgment of his Peers, or by the Law of the land. We will sell to no man, we will not
deny or defer to any man either Justice or Right. [due process]

It was Magna Carta, over other early concessions by the monarch, which
survived to become a "sacred text"….by the time of the English Civil War
[1640s] it had become an important symbol for those who wished to show
that the King was bound by the law. It inﬂuenced the early settlers in New
England and inspired later constitutional documents, including the United
States Constitution.
Wikipedia

Petition of Right, 1628
1603-25--James I Stuart had angered Parliament by his absolutist pretensions
1625-28--his successor, Charles I, was, if anything, even more tactless
Parliament refused to pass taxes to support the Thirty Years War. So Charles
used martial law, quartering troops and imprisonments to exact “forced loans”
both Lords and Commons united in their opposition to this highhandedness
the upshot was the second major limitation on royal prerogative, “no taxation
without representation” (Parliament’s approval)
Charles indignantly accepted the Petition, got his taxes, dismissed Parliament,
and began the eleven year Personal Rule refusing to summon another
Parliament ...
1640-...until another war forced him to. This confrontation led to the eight-
year English Civil War

The Petition profoundly inﬂuenced the rights contained by the
Constitution of the United States. The clauses relating to the billeting of
troops later helped form the Third Amendment to the United States
Constitution, which states that "No soldier shall, in time of peace be
quartered in any house, without the consent of the owner, nor in time of
war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law". Steve Bachmann, writing in
the Quinnipiac Law Review, goes further; he says that the Criminal Trials
Clause of the Sixth Amendment, the Due Process Clause of the Fifth
Amendment and the Civil Jury Trial Clause of the Seventh Amendment all
draw inﬂuence from the Petition of Right,
Wikipedia

Habeas Corpus Act, 1679
Charles II, the “Merrie Monarch,”
continued his father’s absolutist
ways but with more political savvy
1678-81--The Earl of Shaftesbury
led a Whig opposition in Parliament
during the tumult known as the
Popish Plot
1679-this reassertion of restraint on
imprisonment without due process
was a major limitation on royal
power
it has its echo in our Constitution,
Article I, Section 9, Clause 2 (cited as I.
9.2)

The Habeas Corpus Parliament, 1679--Wikipedia
Elections were held for a new parliament
on various dates in February 1679, after
which the Earl of Shaftesbury•
estimated that of the members of the
new House of Commons one third were
friends of the court [Tories], three ﬁfths
favoring the Opposition [Whigs], and
the rest capable of going either way
[fence sitters]. On Thursday, 6 March,
the Parliament ﬁrst met, and the King
[Charles II] opened the Session with a
Speech to both Houses, in which he
said:
Anthony Ashley Cooper,
1st Earl of Shaftesbury
1621 –1683

The Habeas Corpus Parliament, 1679--Wikipedia
Elections were held for a new parliament
on various dates in February 1679, after
which the Earl of Shaftesbury•estimated
that of the members of the new House of
Commons one third were friends of the
court [Tories], three ﬁfths favoring the
Opposition [Whigs], and the rest
capable of going either way [fence
sitters]. On Thursday, 6 March, the
Parliament ﬁrst met, and the King
[Charles II] opened the Session with a
Speech to both Houses, in which he
said: Charles II
1630 -- 1660 –1683

I have done many great Things already...as the Exclusion
of the Popish Lords from their Seats in Parliament; the
Execution of several Men...upon the score of the
[Popish]Plot....Above all, I have commanded my Brother
[James, Duke of York] to absent himself from me,
because I would not leave malicious Men room to say, I
had not removed all Causes which could be pretended to
inﬂuence me towards Popish Counsels... I have not been
wanting in giving Orders for putting all the present Laws
in Execution against Papists; and I am ready to join in the
making such farther Laws, as may be necessary for
securing the Kingdom against Popery…. I will conclude
as I begun, with my earnest Desires to have this a
Healing Parliament; and I do give you this Assurance that
I will with my Life defend both the Protestant Religion,
and the Laws of this Kingdom, and I do expect from you
to be defended from the Calumny, as well as the Danger
of those worst of Men, who endeavour to render me,
and my Government, odious to my People.

“No Popery! No wooden shoes!”
Although the Wars of Religion, c. 1524-1648, were over, their
afterglow lingered for many years--in Ireland to this present day.
Militant expansionism by France, England’s ancient enemy, under
Louis XIV (1638-1643-1661-1715)• had a strong element of religious
war. Louis’ chief enemy was William of Orange•, Stadtholder of
the Netherlands, and Protestant son-in-law to Catholic James II
of England. Louis had begun harassing his own Huguenots
(Protestants) in 1681• and revoked their last legal protection in
1685. That same year, James succeeded his brother. When a
Catholic male heir, the “Warming Pan Baby,” was born in 1688, the
Whig Protestant opposition spurred the Glorious Revolution.
jbp
Louis XIVWilliam
of
Orange

(R.C.)
(R.C.)
(R.C.)
(R.C.)
both nephew &
son-in-law
to James II

(R.C.)
(R.C.)
(R.C.)
(R.C.)
(R.C.)
(R.C.)
(R.C.)
(R.C.)
both nephew &
son-in-law
to James II
“...the duke [of York] married the
French-sponsored, papally blessed
(and altogether beautiful) Mary of
Modena.”--Webb, p.324

Bill of Rights, 1689
March, 1689--in the Declaration of Right the
Whig Parliament declared that James II had
abdicated when he ﬂed to France
it pronounced his Protestant daughter Mary
and her husband William joint monarchs
it listed limits on royal power, rights of
Parliament and English citizens very similar to
John Locke’s (Shaftesbury’s secretary) ideas
December, 1689--in a statutory Act, known as
the Bill of Rights, the same rights were made
part of the British (unwritten) Constitution
it has its echo in our Constitution’s ﬁrst ten
amendments, known as our Bill of Rights (cited
as AMs I-X)

The [English] Bill of Rights
no royal interference with the law. Though the sovereign remains the fount of
justice, he or she cannot unilaterally establish new courts or act as a judge
no taxation by Royal Prerogative. The agreement of the parliament became
necessary for the implementation of any new taxes
freedom to petition the monarch without fear of retribution
no standing army may be maintained during a time of peace without the
consent of parliament
no royal interference in the freedom of the people to have arms for their own
defence as suitable to their class and as allowed by law (simultaneously
restoring rights previously taken from Protestants by James II)
no royal interference in the election of members of parliament
the freedom of speech and debates or proceedings in Parliament ought not to
be impeached or questioned in any court or place out of Parliament
no excessive bail or "cruel and unusual" punishments may be imposed
I.8.1
AM I
I.8.12 & I.8.14
AM II
I.4.1 & AM X
AM I
AM VIII
I.8.9

...there were Ongweoweh (the real people)

...there were Ongweoweh (the real people)
Theodore de Bry (1528-1598), Grands Voyages (to America) (1588)

the ﬁrst “visuals”
Theodore de Bry, for Tho Harriot’s A Briefe and True Report of
the New Found Land of Virginia (1590)

...there were Ongweoweh
Jan Verelst (1648-1734), Four Mohawk Kings (1710)
Allies against the French, they came to Queen Anne’s court. These
Christianized Kanien'kehá:ka (people of the flint) so impressed her
that she had these portraits painted by a Dutch Golden Age painter
who worked in London.
jbp
Believed to be the first oil portraits of American Indians painted from life.

The origins of America’s indigenous peoples are lost to history
Hypothetical migration from Siberia, after 16,500 BC

The origins of America’s indigenous peoples are lost to history
Amerindian culture groups

“Contact”
1500‘s-setting aside pre-Columbian encounters, the huge First
Nations (Canadian preferred term) population (1-18 million) began
to be decimated by “guns, germs and steel”
avarice on both sides fueled the conflicts
Europeans: gold & silver, sugar, chocolate, tobacco, coffee, land
Amerindians: hatchets, kettles, fish hooks, firearms, gun flints, powder, “fire water”
territorial wars were not introduced by the Europeans
but New World colonial trade wars between the Spanish, English,
French, and Dutch had a ripple effect on the already existing tribal
rivalries
jbp

The Five Nations, Iroquois Confederacy, Haudenosaunee
(people of the longhouse)

the modern ﬂag of the Iroquois Nation

It’s symbolism

A wampum belt with the symbolism

a modern representation of the Gayanashagowa

“Gayanashagowa” or Great Law of Peace
is the oral constitution of the Haudenosaunee preserved on
wampum belts
their tradition says it was conceived by Deganwidah, known as the
Great Peacemaker, and his spokesman Hiawatha
jbp

“Gayanashagowa” or Great Law of Peace
is the oral constitution of the Haudenosaunee preserved on
wampum belts
their tradition says it was conceived by Deganwidah, known as the
Great Peacemaker, and his spokesman Hiawatha
historians originally dated the start of the confederacy to the 16th
century. Now some date it to 1090-1150 A.D.
an “outlying” opinion suggests that it was an inﬂuence on the
Founders as they framed our Constitution. This was immediately
seized upon by the PC crowd and declared Truth in several high
school textbooks
jbp

The Albany Plan of Union, 1754

Beginning in 1609, the League engaged in the Beaver Wars against the
French, their Huron allies, and other neighboring tribes, including the Petun,
Erie, and Susquehannock. They also put great pressure on the Algonquian
peoples of the Atlantic coast...and not infrequently fought the English
colonies as well. During the Beaver Wars, they were said to have defeated
and assimilated the Huron (1649), Petun (1650) the Neutral Nation (1651),
Erie Tribe(1657), and Susquehannock (1680).
The traditional view is that these wars were a way to control the lucrative fur
trade in order to access European goods on which they had become
dependent. Recent scholarship has elaborated on this view, arguing that the
Beaver Wars were an escalation of the "Mourning Wars" that were an
integral part of Iroquois culture.
This view suggests that the Iroquois launched large scale attacks against
neighboring tribes in order to avenge or replace the massive number of
casualties resulting from smallpox epidemics or other battles.
Wikipedia

The Fall Line
Tidewater
Piedmont

The Fall Line Cities (selected)
Lowell, MA
Hartford, CT
Bangor, ME
Augusta, ME
Albany, NY
Washington, DC
Richmond, VA
Raleigh, NC
Columbia,SC
Augusta, GA
Macon, GA
Montgomery, AL
Tuscaloosa, AL

The Fall Line
The Piedmont plateau served as
the western limit of colonial
expansion until the decade
between the French and Indian
Wa r a n d t h e A m e r i c a n
Revolution. The colonial “back
country” frontiersmen needed a
century and a half to perfect the
skills necessary to push over the
Appalachians into the country of
the Eastern Woodlands Indians.
jbpThe Piedmont Plateau

the colonial experience
Jamestown Colony

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (April 26, 2007) - John Smith, played by Dennis Farmer, claims the beach for England during a re-
enactment ceremony on the 400th anniversary of the First Landing in the, "New World." Settlers from the ships the Godspeed,
Discovery and the Susan Constant landed in Virginia Beach and stayed four days before transiting to Jamestown. U.S. Navy
photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Matthew Bookwalter (RELEASED)

“And God Gave a Fourth [Kingdom]”
(the first three being England, Ireland and Scotland)
early Virginia motto reflecting the colony’s significance
England had come late to the colonial settlement of the New World.
First permanent settlement in North America came in 1607, the
Jamestown of the Virginia Company under James I Stuart.
Early disasters, the “starving times,” 1609-10, the first American
Indian,* or Powhatan, uprising, 1622, led to a change from a private
company charter to Royal Colony status in 1624. Nevertheless, because
of the turbulent domestic challenges to James and his successor,
Charles I, little supervision was exercised from London for the next half
century.
jbp
* the majority of American Indians/Native Americans believe it is acceptable to use either term, or both. Many
have also suggested leaving such general terms behind in favor of specific tribal designations.--Infoplease

1619-The Three ‘B’s
20 Black men were purchased from a Dutch privateer
sailing from Angola to Vera Cruz, Mexico. Their legal
status was ‘indentured servants.’ Slavery would develop
later
Burgesses, the ﬁrst elected representatives met in the
Jamestown church
jbp

1619-The Three ‘B’s
20 Black men were purchased from a Dutch privateer
sailing from Angola to Vera Cruz, Mexico. Their legal
status was ‘indentured servants.’ Slavery would develop
later
Burgesses, the ﬁrst elected representatives met in the
Jamestown church
Brown “gold,” tobacco, replaced the original commercial
object of the Virginia Company investors. This new
addictive substance joined sugar, chocolate and coffee
as the commercial cornerstones of colonialism jbp

A Persistent
A
d
d
i
c
t
i
o
n

“Tobacco was the ﬁrst of the major American staples to
emerge. Imports into England rose dramatically from…”
Horn, p. 283
1630 300,000 lbs.
1640 more than 1 million
1670 15 million
1700 28 million

1500s-The Three ‘G’s
1493-God-the pious purpose proclaimed by the Spanish
wave of Conquistadors. Reﬂected in the division of the
New World by that least pious of popes, Alexander VI
jbp

Gold-the scramble to displace Spain became serious
when regular “plate ﬂeets” began bringing the loot of New
Spain to the Mother Country and Spain became the
dominant power of the 16th century
jbp

Glory-such men as Cortez, Pizarro, Coronado, de Soto,
jbp

Glory-such men as Cortez, Pizarro, Coronado, de Soto,
Sir Francis Drake and John Smith exemplify the third
motivation jbp

New England began as the second British beachhead in 1620. There
is no doubt whatsoever about the role of God in the minds of its
colonists, or the role of high Anglican churchmen in “harrying the
Separatists out of the Land.”
The nucleus of Plimoth Plantation left Scrooby, England for the more
tolerant Netherlands in 1609. When Anglican authorities followed them
there to silence William Brewster in 1618 the Separatists became
Pilgrims who founded the New England permanent settlements.
As Spaniards, French and Virginians before them, the Puritans
intended to convert the “Savages.”
jbp

Massachussetts Foundation Mythology
Setting Sail from the Netherlands

The Mayﬂower

The Mayﬂower-cutaway

Signing the Mayﬂower Compact

Landing at Plymouth, 1620

Plymouth Rock

The First Thanksgiving, 1621

Massachussetts Bay Colony, Governor Winthrop, 1630

Roger Williams Expelled, Founds Rhode Island

The Trial of Anne Hutchinson

Later Waves of New England Settlement

Charter Colonies
1639-The Fundamental Orders of Connecticut-a compact or
covenant between three Massachussetts-settled towns: Hartford,
Windsor, and Wethersﬁeld
It has the features of a written constitution, and is considered by
some as the ﬁrst written Constitution in the Western tradition--
Wikipedia
1662-Charles II granted Connecticut a Royal Charter granting
self-government in domestic affairs
1688-after the Glorious Revolution Rhode Island was detached
from the Dominion of New England and also given a similar Royal
Charter

Windsor
Wethersfield
The first written
constitution
that worked--1639

Proprietary Colonies--Maryland
1629-George Calvert, 1st Lord Baltimore in the Irish House of Lords, fresh
from his failure further north with Newfoundland's Avalon colony, applied to
Charles I for a royal charter for what was to become the Province of
Maryland
April 1632- George Calvert died in April 1632, but a charter for "Maryland
Colony" (in Latin, "Terra Maria") was granted to his son, Cæcilius Calvert•,
2nd Lord Baltimore, in June, 1632. The new colony may have been named in
honor of Henrietta Maria of France, wife of Charles I of England

Proprietary Colonies--Maryland
1629-George Calvert, 1st Lord Baltimore in the Irish House of Lords, fresh
from his failure further north with Newfoundland's Avalon colony, applied to
Charles I for a royal charter for what was to become the Province of
Maryland
April 1632- George Calvert died in April 1632, but a charter for "Maryland
Colony" (in Latin, "Terra Maria") was granted to his son, Cæcilius Calvert•,
2nd Lord Baltimore, in June, 1632. The new colony may have been named in
honor of Henrietta Maria of France, wife of Charles I of England
1649-The Calvert family, who founded Maryland partly as a refuge for
English Catholics, sought enactment of the law to protect Catholic settlers
and those of other religions that did not conform to the dominant
Anglicanism of Britain and her colonies. This led to the Maryland Toleration
Act in 1649. It was the ﬁrst law ever to guarantee the right to worship
regardless of denomination.--Wikipedia

Proprietary Colonies--Carolina (Lat. Land of Charles)
1663-”Eight Noble Lords Proprietor” were given the lands between Virginia
and Spanish Florida by Charles II. He named it in honor of his father

1669-Lord Ashley (better known by his later title, Shaftesbury) was one of
the favorites, so honored . His secretary, John Locke, drew up the
constitution for this vast domain. He called it The Fundamental Constitutions of
Carolina •

1669-Lord Ashley• (better known by his later title, Shaftesbury) was one of
the favorites, so honored . His secretary, John Locke•, drew up the
constitution for this vast domain. He called it The Fundamental Constitutions of
Carolina •
like so many of the colonies, Carolina experienced political upheavals. It was
divided into two Royal colonies in the early 18th century and the heirs of the
Lords Proprietor lost its revenues to the Crown.

Proprietary Colonies--Pennsylvania
1681-William Penn, the son of Admiral William Penn, received proprietorship of
over 45,000 mi2 , making him the world’s largest landowner. Both Charles II
and his brother owed ﬁnancial and personal debts to Penn’s father
Penn (1644-1718) had grown up during the religious turmoil of the
Commonwealth. He was persuaded to the new Separatist faith of George Fox.
Its members called one another Friends; their critics called them Quakers
The colony was to be a haven for religious minorities, much as Maryland had
served for Catholics. Penn wrote its Frame of Government•. It included many
enlightened innovations such as a procedure for amendment to allow for
peaceful adjustment
Penn is also remarkable for his treatment of the American Indians, especially
the Lenape•. In a series of purchases•, he recognized their property rights.
This contrasts most favorably with the genocidal policies of other colonies,
especially the “Saints” of Massachussetts Bay Colony

Three Types of Colonies in 1675
By the end of the third quarter of the seventeenth century, England had
created several types of North American colonial administration. All of
them, by later standards, were “hands off.”
Attention of the Lords of Trade and Plantations* focused on the Sugar
Islands of the Caribbean, vastly more profitable.
There were the Royal Colonies, the Proprietary Colonies, and the
Charter Colonies. These three forms would persist for the next century.
But the atmosphere of laissez-faire was about to end.
jbp
* founded in 1621, it was named "The Lords of the Committee of Privy Council appointed for the
consideration of all matters relating to Trade and Foreign Plantations".

1676; the end of
American
independence

“[James II]appears in Lely’s
unﬁnished… study of his
character as the forceful and
determined, haughty and
stubborn, even stupid man
that he was. Yet James Stuart
was perhaps the bravest of
English kings, certainly the
best administrator, for a
sovereign, since Elizabeth.
Webb, p. 179

The Anglo-Dutch Wars
First War, 1652-54-Cromwell’s Commonwealth enacted the ﬁrst Navigation
Act, 1651, to deny its colonies trade with any other country, here the Dutch.
England narrowly prevailed but both signed a peace of exhaustion
Second War, 1664-67-Charles II promoted more anti-Dutch mercantilist
policies which produced another contest. This one went to the Dutch--de
Ruyter’s broom--Dutch naval zenith. But New York changed hands
Third War, 1672-75-Charles, forced by the secret Treaty of Dover,
reluctantly led his country back to war. Just as before, privateers inﬂicted
commercial pain on both sides. When Admiral de Ruyter foiled the Anglo-French
invasion, peace was restored
The most purely commercial wars in history--R R Palmer, A History of the Modern World

1644-(age 11) created Duke of York (Eng.)and Albany
(Scotland) by his father, Charles I, who was ﬁghting
for his kingdom
1649-(16)James Stuart was a refugee in the French
court when his father was beheaded
1660-(27)after the Restoration, made Lord High
Admiral and head of the Royal African Company. He
hoped to seize possessions of the Dutch West India
Company
June, 1664-personally fought in the Second Anglo-
Dutch War, invaded New Netherlands, gaining control
by October
March, 1665-(35)Charles made his brother proprietor.
“New York” and “Albany” replace New Amsterdam and
Fort Nassau
James II and VII
1633-1644-1685-1688-1701

“...the instrument required to curb the
independence of New England….”--Webb, p. 182
Province of New York in 1665

“The protagonists of 1676---Daniel Garacontié, the Onondaga
sachem; Edmund Andros, the governor of New York; and James Stuart
the duke of York and Albany and proprietor of the province---allied
themselves through the agency of the Covenant Chain, thus making
their linked dominions the center of empire in America. So doing, [they]
[1]broke the preeminence in English America of puritan
Massachussetts and planter Virginia. They [2] began to shift the focus
of European attention to North America from the Caribbean. Their
immediate successors opened the hundred years war with France for
America, and the decisive outcomes of that enormous war made North
America the lasting domain of English language and institutions. Such
was the abiding strength of the Longhouse League, however, that, to
this day, the Grand Council of the Iroquois still meets at Onondaga.”
Steven Saunders Webb, 1676; The End of American Independence. (1995) p. xv

born in London to a Royalist family with court
connections. Military experience abroad with the
Stuart refugees
1664-(age 27)served in the English army against the
Dutch. Posted to Barbados in 1666
1674-(37)appointed provincial governor of New York,
recently retaken in the Third Anglo-Dutch War by the
Dutch and then re-retaken by England!
1675-Indian war in Massachussetts initiated by
Wampanoag “King Philip” (Metacom)
Andros invokes the long-standing alliance of the
Covenant Chain (1613-present) which the English had
renewed in 1664
Edmund Andros
1637 – 1714

Haudenosaunee tradition also records the specific meaning of the belt as follows, in the
form of a Haudenosaunee reply to the initial [1613] Dutch treaty proposal:
You say that you are our Father and I am your Son We will not be like Father and Son,
but like Brothers. This wampum belt confirms our words. '. Neither of us will make
compulsory laws or interfere in the internal affairs of the other. Neither of us will try to
steer the other's vessel. The agreement has been kept by the Iroquois to this date.
The treaty is considered by Haudenosaunee people to still be in effect. Further
Haudenosaunee tradition states the duration of the Two Row Wampum agreement:
As long as the Sun shines upon this Earth, that is how long OUR Agreement will stand;
Second, as long as the Water still flows; and Third, as long as the Grass Grows Green
at a certain time of the year. Now we have Symbolized this Agreement and it shall be
binding forever as long as Mother Earth is still in motion.
Wikipedia
The Guswhenta two-row wampum treaty belt

“...Andros was assigned to direct trafﬁc at the crossroads of 1676, the
strategically located string of territories in which English imperialism and
Iroquoian ambition became symbiotic partners.” --Webb, p. 304

The Iroquois Strike South
Like the opening break shot in pool,

when the Iroquois attacked the Susquehannoks in
what was soon to be Pennsylvania
the Susquehannocks were driven south, and

when the Iroquois attacked the Susquehannoks in
what was soon to be Pennsylvania
the Susquehannocks were driven south, and
the smaller tribes were scattered into the Maryland
and Virginia back country

These attacks by displaced Indians, on the small proprietors of
Virginia’s “back country,” were the immediate cause of what
governor William Lord Berkeley called “Bacon’s Rebellion.”
jbp

Nathaniel Bacon (29)
1647 – 26 October 1676
Cambridge, arrived VA, 1674
Sir William Berkeley (70)
1605 – 9 July 1677
Oxford, fought in the Bishops Wars
VA governor, 1641-52 and 1660-77
“...through the whole Country
and in every part the Rabble so
threatened the better sort of
people that they durst not step
out of their house.”
“...damne al [tax] leavies and
forts and Assembles not Chosen
by the People but by a few men.”

“If the ﬁrst face [long term cause] of Virginia’s revolution was
a tax revolt, primarily a protest by coastal counties against a
gouging government, its other aspect [immediate cause] was a
military mutiny, the frontier counties’ response to antique and
inequitable defense policies. The government that cannot
protect its people cannot command their obedience.
Berkeley’s government could not protect Virginians in 1676 so
they overthrew it.”
Webb, p. 21

“Now mark the late tragedy:
Old Governor Barkly,
Altered by marrying a young
wyff, from his wanted
publicq good, to a covetous
fools-age, relished Indians
presents, with som that hath
a like feelinge, so wel, that
many Christians Blood is
pukkuted up, with other
mischievs, in so much that
his lady tould that it would
bee the overthrow of the
Country.”
Frances Culpeper Stephens
Berkeley (1634-1695)
quoted in Webb, p.71

The Burning of Jamestown, by Howard Pyle, ca. 1905

A way of life, autonomous, colonial...traditional was
sacriﬁced in the ﬁres of Jamestown. The town itself, the
assembly system...the capital of a colony dependent on
England only economically, a life redolent of the more
backward shires of England before the mother country’s own
civil war and revolution, all burned and passed away on 20
September 1676. Now the horrors of Leviathan’s century had
crossed the Atlantic to Virginia, destroying, transforming,
modernizing. (cont.)
Webb, op. cit. p. 65

modernizing. (cont.) The siege of the Old Dominion’s
capital---in which revolutionaries exposed gentlewomen and
threatened race war, in which reaction so overwhelmed Sir
William Berkeley, the personiﬁcation of the old order, that he
killed prisoners of war for their political opinions and social
ambitions---had broken the bonds of wrath.”
Ibid.

As Bacon’s revolution seemed to be successful in Virginia, Protestant
frontiersmen in Maryland looked to join them. They too were
experiencing Indian attacks backed by Catholic France. They
blamed their Catholic Calvert proprietor’s regime for preferring the
fur trade to frontier defense, just as Bacon’s army had blamed
Berkeley and the tidewater oligarchs.
jbp

“It was to the governor-general of New York, therefore, that
the anti-proprietary Marylanders of 1676 looked for
protection….Commander of the one colony that bordered
both on the Iroquoian heartland and on the French province,
Edmund Andros provided...an attractive contrast….[He] was
a soldier of the king, not a trader in furs. Distinguished for his
Protestantism and his service with the Dutch army...Major
Andros was an established diplomatic and military
intermediary with the Iroquois….”
Webb, p. 78

“This state had not existed when, in 1641, on the eve of the
civil wars and revolution which cast the British kingdom into the
maw of the Leviathan, Berkeley had begun his ﬁrst term in
command of Virginia. Out of the war and revolution ﬁrst the
national state had emerged in England. Then the imperial state
had engorged all Britain, then Barbados, Jamaica, Tangier,
New York. It had at last arrived in Virginia, despite Sir Wm
Berkeley’s long resistance,…[his neglect of] the paperwork of
modern government pressed on his regime from England….
...These orders were inimical not only to Berkeleyan rule but
also to American independence.”
Webb, p. 129
The modernized English state

The final southern event which ended American “Independence”
in 1676 was the expeditionary force sent to both put down Bacon’s
rebellion and replace Berkeley’s unjust, inefficient, autonomous
regime. It included a naval squadron, a regiment of Scottish
regulars, and three Royal Commissioners “for settling the
Grievances and Other Affairs of Virginia.”
jbp

Puritan land grabs and genocides such as the Pequot War, 1634-38•,
jbp
King Philip’s War
“...the greatest Indian war in American history, the enormous Algonquin
uprising of 1675-76.”--Webb, p. 353

finally bore bitter fruit. The Wampanoag People•
jbp
King Philip’s War

finally bore bitter fruit. The Wampanoag People• took a terrible revenge
which broke New England’s independence as effectively as Bacon’s
revolution had ended that of the Chesapeake Bay plantations.
jbp
King Philip’s War

The New England lands were
finally successful in putting
down the Indian uprising. It
had required the diplomacy of
New York’s governor Andros
and military intervention by the
Mohawks,“keepers of the
eastern door” of the Iroquoian
“longhouse.” The devastation
invited “reconstruction” by the
imperial government of the
Mother Country.
jbp

“Per-capita incomes in New England did not recover their 1675
level until 1775….
...although the starving Algonquin were undoubtedly subdued
“& become more slaves yn formerly” to the New Englanders, “the
warr hath been very Bloudy, there having been 17 townes or
Villages destroyed by the Indians & as neare as they can
compute it about 2500 men women and children killed….”
The dead left a living legacy of hatred behind them. As the
descendants of the survivors of the Indian war of 1676 in
Massachussetts and Virginia became the leaders of American
opinion, the image of the Indian savage which this year’s conﬂict
conﬁrmed became a racist stereotype.”
Webb, p. 243
The Cost of King Philip’s War

the road to 1776
Independence Hall
site of the Declaration of Independence

Dominion of New England-1686-1689

June, 1684-Massachussetts’ charter was revoked in punishment for trading
outside the empire. Both King Charles and his brother were determined to bring
the North American colonies under tighter control
1685-a centralized administration was created out of the colonies from the New
Jerseys to Maine (then a province of Mass.). It ran from the Delaware River to
the Bay of Fundy. The goal was to bring the rebellious divines of “Boston” to
heel, to end their discrimination against non-Puritans, but especially to enforce
the trade legislation

June, 1684-Massachussetts’ charter was revoked in punishment for trading
outside the empire. Both King Charles and his brother were determined to bring
the North American colonies under tighter control
1685-a centralized administration was created out of the colonies from the New
Jerseys to Maine (then a province of Mass.). It ran from the Delaware River to
the Bay of Fundy. The goal was to bring the rebellious divines of “Boston” to
heel, to end their discrimination against non-Puritans, but especially to enforce
the trade legislation
This far ﬂung entity presented an impossible communications challenge. Roads
were primitive or non-existent.Coastal and riverine transportation was
dependent on weather in the age of sail
20 December 1686- New York governor Edmund Andros was made governor of
the Dominion and began a ruthless administration which provoked widespread
push back

Andros took a hard-line position to the effect that the
colonists had left behind all their rights as Englishmen
when they left England. When in 1687 the Reverend
John Wise rallied his parishioners to protest and
resistant taxes, Andros had him arrested, convicted
and ﬁned. As an Andros ofﬁcial explained, "Mr. Wise,
you have no more privileges Left you than not to be
Sold for Slaves."
Wikipedia

20 December 1686- New York governor
Edmund Andros was made governor
and began a ruthless administration
which provoked widespread push
back
1688-under French provocation “their”
Indians attacked pro-British Indians,
the Seneca, bound by the Covenant
Chain of 1677. Andros led the military
response
1689-when word of the Glorious
Revolution reached the Dominion
Andros was overthrown in Boston, his
lieutenant governor Leister in New
York

Mercantilism-- imperialism + capitalism = mercantilism--Webb
The famous
18th century
triangular trade

bullionism
wealth = power = a nation’s Au + Ag (precious metals, called
specie or “hard money”-- 16th century Spain, the “proof”
accumulation occurs when trade balance is favorable, i.e.,
exports > imports
colonialism
source of raw materials and markets for manufactures
trade restrictions
trade only with the Mother Country. Begun under Queen
Elizabeth, the ﬁrst so-called Navigation Act under Cromwell,
1651
Mercantilism-- imperialism + capitalism = mercantilism--Webb

The Great War for the Empire-Lawrence Henry Gipson

YEARS OF
WAR
NORTH AMERICA EUROPE TREATY
1688-1697 King William’s War
War of the Grand Alliance
War of the League of Augsburg
Ryswick
1702-1713 Queen Anne’s War War of the Spanish Succession Utrecht
1744-1748 King George’s War War of the Austrian Succession
Aix-la-
Chapelle
1754-1763
French and Indian
War (F & I)
Seven Years War Paris
The Great War for the Empire-Lawrence Henry Gipson

At the start of Queen Anne’s War, 1702

“Let sleeping dogs lie!”-Sir Robert Walpole
In 1733 the Opposition in the
House of Commons proposed
taxing the American colonies to
ease Britain’s war debt. The man
generally regarded as “the ﬁrst
Prime Minister,” Sir Robert
Walpole opposed this.
Another of his reported
truisms was “Don’t kill the goose
which lays the golden eggs!” If
this wise advice had continued to
be followed things might have
turned out differently...

Britain Tightens Control of Her North American Colonies
In addition to the issue of “taxation without representation,”
Britain’s Royal Governors had unprecedented authority to
apply pressure to the colonists.
Most colonies had a two-chambered, or bicameral,
legislature. The upper chamber, the governor’s Council, was
appointive. So it, along with the veto power, served as a brake
on the lower house--House of Delegates, House of Burgesses,
Assembly of Freemen. These popular bodies were elected by
propertied citizens of the towns or counties, usually for one
year sessions.
The similarity to Britain’s Crown, Lords and Commons was
intentional. Just as in England, resistance to royal absolutism
was centered in the lower house.
jbp

Royal Governors vs Popular Assemblies
“The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of
repeated injuries and usurpations...

“He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing
importance...
“He has refused to pass other Laws...unless those people would relinquish the
right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and
formidable to tyrants only.
“He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable,
and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose
of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
“He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly
ﬁrmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
“He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be
elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have
returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining for the
mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and
convulsions within.
“The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of
repeated injuries and usurpations...

At the start of the F & I War, 1754

The Great War Changed Everything
it laid the foundation for the British Raj in India

Lord Clive meeting with Mir Jafar after the
Battle of Plassey, oil on canvas (Francis
Hayman, c. 1762)

it expelled the French from North America

The Death of General Wolfe is a well-known 1770 painting by
Anglo-American artist Benjamin West depicting the death of British
General James Wolfe during the 1759 Battle of Quebec of the
Seven Years' War.

it created the largest Crown debt in history

American Indian unrest produced a new policy,
the Proclamation Line of 1763

American Indian unrest produced a new policy,
the Proclamation Line of 1763
simultaneously
Britain embarked on the course of empire
and the path which would deprive her of what could
have been its crown jewel

1763-1775-The Three ‘T’s
Taxes-beginning with the Sugar Act, 1764. Justiﬁed as
repayment to Britain for the cost (£ 146 million) of the
F & I War & Pontiac’s rebellion
1765-the Stamp Act produced such a tremendous negative reaction
that it was quickly withdrawn
jbp

1767-but the Townshend Acts, another tax, showed that the lesson
hadn’t been learned
jbp

1767-but the Townshend Acts, another tax, showed that the lesson
hadn’t been learned
Troops-sent not to the frontier but the colonial ports to
insure collection of the Townshend duties, 1767
jbp

“He has erected a multitude of New Offices and sent hither swarms of
Officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance….”--
Action of the Second Continental Congress, July 4, 1776
1768-a new position was created, Colonial Secretary, to deal with the increasing
difficulties
more troops were sent to protect the governors, their councils and leading
Loyalists (“Tories”)
revenue collectors were increased to combat notorious smugglers like
Massachussetts’ John Hancock, the richest merchant in America
1772-the revenue schooner, HMS Gaspée, ran aground chasing a smuggler. She
was boarded, looted and torched

“He has erected a multitude of New Offices and sent hither swarms of
Officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance….”--
Action of the Second Continental Congress, July 4, 1776
1768-a new position was created, Colonial Secretary, to deal with the increasing
difficulties
more troops were sent to protect the governors, their councils and leading
Loyalists (“Tories”)
revenue collectors were increased to combat notorious smugglers like
Massachussetts’ John Hancock, the richest merchant in America
1772-the revenue schooner, HMS Gaspée, ran aground chasing a smuggler. She
was boarded, looted and torched
this was in part “payback” for the “Boston massacre”

Tea-1773, the Tea Act restated the most proﬁtable of
the Townshend taxes. It led that December to the
Boston Tea Party•,
jbp

Tea-1773, the Tea Act restated the most proﬁtable of
the Townshend taxes. It led that December to the
Boston Tea Party•, the Boston Port Bill (Intolerable
Acts)1774•, &c., &c.
jbp

Listen, my children, and you shall hear
Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere,
On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-Five:
Hardly a man is now alive
Who remembers that famous day and year.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, in The Atlantic, 1861

By the rude bridge that arched the flood,
Their flag to April's breeze unfurled,
Here once the embattled farmers stood
And fired the shot heard round the world.
Ralph Waldo Emerson, Concord Hymn, 4 July 1837

Give me liberty or give me death!

Give me liberty or give me death!
It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry,
Peace, Peace – but there is no peace. The war is actually begun!
The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears
the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the
field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish?
What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to
be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it,
Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as
for me, give me liberty or give me death!
Patrick Henry, 1775

A National Park Service
Ranger describes
Independence Hall's
Assembly Room, in which
both the Declaration of
Independence and
Constitution were drafted
and signed.

1736-(10)his planter father died. He grew
up, largely self-educated from his maternal
uncle’s library
1754-(28)justice of the Fairfax County court

1755-1759-Mason built this home, Gunston Hall, for his new family
overlooking the Potomac River, it was the center of his 5,500 acre plantation

1736-(10)his planter father died. He grew
up, largely self-educated from his maternal
uncle’s library
1754-(28)justice of the Fairfax County court
1759-elected to the Virginia House of
Burgesses
1776-(50)served in the Virginia Convention,
a revolutionary provisional government
here he was prominent in drafting the state
constitution and bill of rights

preparation of the first Virginia Constitution began in early 1776, in the midst
of the initial events of the American Revolution. The final version was
adopted on the eve of the colony-wide declaration of independence
its principal authors were James Madison and George Mason. Jefferson was
away in Philadelphia and his draft arrived too late for consideration
like similar efforts in all the other colonies (now states), it began with
condemnation of royal government and emphasized legislative
(representative, popular) power over executive. The royal governors had
tainted executive power in the eyes of the Founders. They equated it with
tyranny
the Virginia Declaration of Rights, Mason’s special contribution, checked all
governmental power. It was another reflection on how the last century of
British “tyranny” had disposed the “Patriots” towards limited government
Virginia State Constitution
29 June 1776

preparation of the ﬁrst Virginia Constitution began in early 1776...
its principal authors were ...
like similar efforts in all the other colonies ...
the Virginia Declaration of Rights …
it, in turn, served as a model for several other historic documents, especially
the U.S. Bill of Rights
critically, the 1776 Constitution limited the right to vote primarily to property
owners and men of wealth. This effectively concentrated power in the hands
of the landowners and aristocracy of Southeastern Virginia. Dissatisfaction
with this power structure would come to dominate Virginia's constitutional
debate for almost a century
Virginia State Constitution
29 June 1776

States as “laboratories of democracy”-
US Supreme Court Justice, Louis Brandeis
During that first discouraging year of war with the world’s
greatest military power, eleven of the colonies would try their
hand at framing new “social contracts.” The two charter
colonies, Connecticut and Rhode Island, felt no such need then.
This experience would prepare many of the men who would
meet a decade later to create the “Miracle at Philadelphia.”

States as “laboratories of democracy”-
US Supreme Court Justice, Louis Brandeis
During that first discouraging year of war with the world’s
greatest military power, eleven of the colonies would try their
hand at framing new “social contracts.” The two charter
colonies, Connecticut and Rhode Island, felt no such need then.
This experience would prepare many of the men who would
meet a decade later to create the “Miracle at Philadelphia.”
But that’s another story...

We The People i-Rights of Englishmen

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