Joe Asaro
11/16/12
U.S. History T/Th 11:10 Progression through trial U.S. History Tu/Th

As foreign population increased in the new world many settlers were anxious to begin a life in a new land. People pursued wealth, fortune, and freedoms of various kinds while expressing themselves in ways that might have been oppressed in their home lands. This land of opportunity provided these settlers a chance to onset their new lifestyles. A well documented and gradually important aspect of this new life was the outlines and nature of law and government. For, without rules and enforcement of those rules the young country might collapse or even take a turn for the worse by re creating the oppressive environments these settlers fled from. This is why the political transitions in young America mark the progressive and tactical nature of the country, which unlike today actually reflected the direction of the pioneers who organized this country.
The English colonies were among the first by Europeans in the America. Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Jamestown all had unique techniques of administrating and loosely governing their people. House of Burgesses was an early rule of choice implemented in Jamestown however it’s powers were limited by the local governor. An issue of expansion and territory claim was focused upon early on because of the land opportunity promised to settlers, this did not aid in the relationship between the natives and the settlers. An episode to note was Bacon’s
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Rebellion, which refers to a revolt against the governor of Jamestown, who refused implement the thought to be necessary force against the attacking Native Americans. A large mob of settlers marched into Jamestown and essentially burnt the city down, killing Bacon in the uprising. The settlement of Massachusetts took a different approach to early governing by following a more religious and church affiliated lead. These faithful flocks of devout Christians were given the legal rights to administer their own justice so to speak. As Calvinists they believed that God had pre determined the fate of each and every believer and that the Holy Bible was a perfect guide to this righteous path. However, in following these texts so intently, an overzealous fervor occurred in the desperate times of the Salem Witch Trials. These trials are debatably sparked by the intentions of Minister Samuel Paris and his divvy of land amongst the area. Paris’ land grant was seen as an unfair gift of a precious commodity so a religious pecking party took place in which over fifty people were wrongly murdered. Lastly, the Pennsylvania colony founded by William Penn preached a system more balanced around equal opportunity where white men of varying economic status had a somewhat equal say in terms of government. Unfortunately in its early form this system of governing failed and William Penn implemented a unicameral system which was a one legislation house that appointed representatives of the people. As these colonies gradually improved and more settlements formed, England constituted salutary neglect which was a policy that set the settler somewhat free of the British scrutiny. This was allowed in an attempt to let the colonies flourish on their own so that they may be later tied down by the former lords. Fortunately these new Americans had other ideas in mind. The American Revolution gave the settlers of the new world independence and with that an opportunity to cement even further as a country. This began the foundations of a central
Asaro 3 government and the rough writings of the Articles of Confederation. Passed by congress in 1777 it gave a structural ground to the rights and sovereign ideals of the country. The Articles consisted of a single legislature with states being able to send multiple delegators to voice the opinion. These Articles denied the congressional movement to tax the people turning the government aim at