Early Formation of Our Government The United States of America - Essay Example

Early Formation of Our Government - The United s of America Two gentlemen, X and Y, are sitting on a couch and having the following discussion:X: Did you know that America is known as the only superpower of the world And Millions of people come from different regions of the world to live and work here with freedom. Y: Yeah, I know that.X: The status we have today is not achieved in a day or in a couple of years. Our forefathers struggled hard for this freedom. What do you know about our history and when it beginsY: We can say that our history begins from Jamestown - the first British Colony.

King James, the British king of that time, granted a charter to the Virginia Company to operate and live their. The site was located around 60 kilometers up the James River from the bayX: Great, can you tell me something about the mayflower compactY: A group of Leyden Puritans secured a land from the Virginia Company in 1620. This group started a journey on board the Mayflower. During the journey a storm took them far north; thus, they landed in New England on Cape Cod. They believed that they are not under any organized government.

Believing this, they drafted an agreement which was based upon two notions. "One was the notion of a social contract, which dated back to biblical times and which would receive fuller expression in the works of Thomas Hobbes and John Locke later in the century. The other was the belief in covenants. Puritans believed that covenants existed not only between God and man, but also between man and man. The Pilgrims had used covenants in establishing their congregations in the Old World. The Mayflower Compact is such a covenant in that the settlers agreed to form a government and be bound by its rules.

The Compact is often described as America's first constitution, but it is not a constitution in the sense of being a fundamental framework of government". The Mayflower Compact (1620)http://usinfo.state.gov/usa/infousa/facts/democrac/2.htm (Accessed December 28, 2005)X: Hmm, I got it. Do you know about the stamp act, what exactly it isY: I know a bit, but don't know what exactly it is X: A new tax was imposed on all the American colonists in 1765, which is known as the stamp act. This act states that all the American colonists should pay a tax on every piece of printed paper.

The reason of the tax is to defend and protect the American frontier near the Appalachian Mountains, where 10, 000 troops were stationed to accomplish the task. "The actual cost of the Stamp Act was relatively small. What made the law so offensive to the colonists was not so much its immediate cost but the standard it seemed to set. In the past, taxes and duties on colonial trade had always been viewed as measures to regulate commerce, not to raise money". A Summary of the 1765 Stamp Acthttp://www.history.org/History/teaching/tchcrsta.

cfm (Accessed December 28, 2005)Y: Great, thanks. Do you know when our journey of freedom comes to the endX: Yep, July 4, 1776 was the day when the unanimous declaration of the thirteen United States of America was passed. It is also considered the Independence day of America. The struggle which was started in the start of the eighteenth century was come to the end at a positive note. In a nutshell, Americans did a lot to get the independence from the colonists, who were not loyal to the people of North America.

The colonists only follow the orders of the British Empire regardless of the consequences of the orders. There continuous bias and disloyal attitudes provoked the American to start the struggle of freedom. Today, what we see in the United States is the fruit of their hard efforts. Y: Absolutely! Works CitedThe Mayflower Compact (1620)http://usinfo.state.gov/usa/infousa/facts/democrac/2.htm (Accessed December 28, 2005)From Revolution to Reconstruction: Outlines: American History (1994): Chapter One:http://odur.let.rug.

nl/usa/H/1994/ch1_p7.htm (Accessed December 28, 2005)A Summary of the 1765 Stamp Acthttp://www.history.org/History/teaching/tchcrsta.cfm (Accessed December 28, 2005)