The Establishment of Self-Government

Social Studies American History Colonial America The Establishment of Self-Government
Students brainstorm the responsibilities of a government and define the term self-government. Then they explore two types of government dominant in colonial America: monarchy and representative government. Next they examine the House of Burgesses and the Mayflower Compact as early models of representative government in the colonies. Finally, they develop a hypothesis about the relationship between the British monarchy, early forms of representative government in the American colonies, and the coming American Revolution.

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Overview

In this experience, students brainstorm the responsibilities of a government and define the term self-government. Then they explore two types of government dominant in colonial America: monarchy and representative government. Next they examine the Virginia House of Burgesses and the Mayflower Compact as early models of representative government in the colonies. Finally, they develop a hypothesis about the relationship between the British monarchy, early forms of representative government in the British colonies, and the coming American Revolution.

Estimated duration: 30–40 minutes

Vocabulary words:

  • authority
  • divine
  • will
  • prosper
  • municipality
  • majority
  • limitation
  • friction
  • hypothesis

Objectives

  • Identify bodies of representative government in colonial America.
  • Hypothesize how the experience of self-government was a factor in the American Revolution.


Engage


The British colonies in North America were far away from England, but they were still under British rule. The colonists established local governments to make decisions and manage their settlements. You will learn about some of these early governments in this experience.

Objectives

  • Identify bodies of representative government in colonial America.
  • Hypothesize how the experience of self-government was a factor in the American Revolution.


A woman firing a cannon, with American Revolutionary soldiers behind her

Signing the Mayflower Compact 1620, by J.L.G. Ferris (1932)


What is an area of activity that is the responsibility of a government? To list multiple answers, separate them with a comma, like this: baseball, tennis.

Post your answer

Ask students to predict what self-government means. Self-government is a system in which people have the power to make decisions and manage many of their own affairs. In the British colonies, self-government allowed colonists to make many local decisions, although the colonies remained under British rule.

Students will review the Mayflower Compact as an early example of self-government and expand the idea to representative government.


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