AMH 2010 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Lower House
Document Summary
Congress elects committee to write document outlining issues with england: thomas jefferson (does most of the writing, benjamin franklin, john adams, robert livingston, sherman. The south says most of their economic success is due to the slave trade. Document is persuasive, eloquent, and an unforgettable statement of the causes. Words in preamble come from the english bill of rights. Laws of nature and nature"s god everyone is entitled. Biggest principle government rests upon the consent of the governed. Government has to preserve personal rights: life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Individual liberty, freedom of vocational choice, full property rights. All men are created equal : despite people being slave owners. 1 in 5 people in the colonies is a slave. The most cherished expression of the american dream. Rhode island and connecticut already had own chartering government. People have a right to have say in the laws.
