The History Square

Seven Major Consequences of World War II:

1: The End of the European Age.

2: The rise of the US to superpower status.

3: The expansion of the Soviet Union and its rise to superpower status.

Joseph Brant:

      Joseph Brant was a powerful Mohawk chief that sided with the British during the Revolutionary War. Brant’s Indian name was Thayendanega, which means ‘he places two bets’. His parents were both Mohawk, and his sister went on to marry Sir William Johnson who was the British superintendent of the Northern Indians of America. Sir Johnson was working with the Iroquois and had become quite popular.

What were the ideas of the British Radical Whigs and how did they influence the American colonists?

     The Radical Whigs of Britain were also known as the Commonwealth Men during the 18^th century, and they were the only ones complaining about the corrupt form of government that had developed outside of the British Constitution. They wanted to form a Republic and they viewed the current governmental system as a threat to liberty. They believed that the conspirators creating the government would eventually work their way into the ministry and cause tyranny. The funny part of the whole thing was that they viewed the King as impossible to corruption, they considered him loyal and smart, but felt he could be deceived. They felt that in order to avoid corruption a person had to be virtuous and/or disinterested.

How was the British Constitution supposed to work in theory, and how did it work in actual practice?

British government during the 18^th century was very narrow and was limited to defending the nation, providing security, regulating trade, handling diplomacy for the country, and securing the lives and property of the people. Instead of being citizens of Britain the people were considered subjects. They all had liberty, but their definition meant that every person was free to pursue their own interests as long as they were not criminals or did not harm others. According to the British population of the time the constitution outlined the ideal governmental system. It was not a formal written constitution; it was a ‘concept’ where historical documents, judicial decisions, political writings, and acts of Parliament were all considered part of it. 

Mercantilism

The idea of building up national wealth at the expense of rivals. Money is power, so there was a need to prevent rivals from building and acquiring wealth. So, they controlled trade during the time of the American Revolution by penalizing colonists for buying outside goods by charging much higher duties.

How did people get around paying the higher duties?

     

Colonial Politics and Ideology

-The British Constitution

-Theory

-Practice

-Radical Whigs

-Colonial Replicas and Realities

     The British and Colonial Political Systems did very little during the 18th century, especially by today's standards. People were subjects, not citizens, and the ranges of government were limited to: defending the nation, providing security, regulating trade, handling diplomacy for the country, and securing the lives and property of the people. All things considered it was a very limited government.

British Government and the British Constitution:

     The people of Britain had liberty, and it was secured through the political system. Their definition of liberty was that you were free to pursue your own interests as long as you didn't commit crimes or infringe on others. People were secure in their property rights, the only way that property could be taken was through crime or the government, which was an elected representative who approved the seizing of property.

Magna Carta

King John of England agreed, in 1215, to the demands of his barons and authorized that handwritten copies of Magna Carta be prepared on parchment, affixed with his seal, and publicly read throughout the realm. Thus he bound not only himself but his "heirs, for ever" to grant "to all freemen of our kingdom" the rights and liberties the great charter described. With Magna Carta, King John placed himself and England's future sovereigns and magistrates within the rule of law.

When Englishmen left their homeland to establish colonies in the New World, they brought with them charters guaranteeing that they and their heirs would "have and enjoy all liberties and immunities of free and natural subjects." Scant generations later, when these American colonists raised arms against their mother country, they were fighting not for new freedoms but to preserve liberties that dated to the 13th century.

When representatives of the young republic of the United States gathered to draft a constitution, they turned to the legal system they knew and admired--English common law as evolved from Magna Carta. The conceptual debt to the great charter is particularly obvious: the American Constitution is "the Supreme Law of the Land," just as the rights granted by Magna Carta were not to be arbitrarily canceled by subsequent English laws.

This heritage is most clearly apparent in our Bill of Rights. The fifth amendment guarantees

No person shall...be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law

Written 575 years earlier, Magna Carta declares:

No freeman shall be taken, imprisoned,...or in any other way destroyed...except by the lawful judgment of his peers, or by the law of the land. To no one will we sell, to none will we deny or delay, right or justice.

In 1957 the American Bar Association acknowledged the debt American law and constitutionalism had to Magna Carta and English common law by erecting a monument at Runnymede. Yet, as close as Magna Carta and American concepts of liberty are, they remain distinct. Magna Carta is a charter of ancient liberties guaranteed by a king to his subjects; the Constitution of the United States is the establishment of a government by and for "We the People."

For more information about the Magna Carta, or viewings click here

You can read a translation of the 1297 version of Magna Carta, which was issued as part of Edward I's Confirmation of the Charters.

You can also view a larger image of the Magna Carta

Continents of the World

There are seven continents of the world, separated by oceans. The continents are: Africa, Asia, Antarctica, Australia, Europe, North America, and South America.

Africa:

This continent consists of 53 countries, and its land mass crosses over the equator. The Atlantic and Indian Oceans border the continent.

Asia:

Asia has the largest population of any other continent, and contains 53 countries. Asia is attached to Europe and is in the Northern and Eastern Hemispheres.

Colonial Perspectives

Colonization: occupying the land already inhabited or taking over virtually empty territory

Decolonization: dismantling of colonial empires

Imperialism: when countries seek to acquire the territories of other states and nations, bringing indigenous people under their rule

Extraterritoriality: immunity from jurisdiction of a nation-exemption from local legal jurisdiction

Colonial Policy Practices

United States:

Practiced Civic Nationalism--a true Nation State

         the form of nationalism where the state (the country) derives its political legitimacy* from active participation of its citizens, thus representing the "will of the people"

     *the nation's government is the authority

Belgium:

Practiced Paternalism--created for administrative convenience, with implementation of Brussels policy

        the policy based on the hierarchy of family authority, there is a figurehead for the country (the patriarch) who makes decisions based on the the good of the citizens, or 'for their own good', even if it is contrary to their wants and wishes