Many of the Founding Fathers had been inspired by political philosophy that had detailed and defined the role of government and the responsibilities of government. As you likely know, this period (1763 to 1776) represented a tumultuous period in British North America. Representatives from each of the colonies were ultimately sent to Philadelphia to discuss the options available in dealing with the growing threat to liberty and oppression from King George III.

From the British perspective, they had provided a form and system of government that was the freest in the world at this time. They, unlike the French, created a parliamentary monarchy to represent the needs of the British subjects. In their perspective, again, they had created a system for representation to serve the needs of the British subjects. This legislative body was further divided into different houses to further show the complexity of this branch of government. The parliament was a legacy of an earlier era when the king of England chose to restrict their power and authority to defer to a legislative body. In the year 1215, King John signed the Magna Carta for this explicit purpose. Now, over 500 years later, the British were still using this system of governance that had been created to ensure a voice to British subjects.

As you begin this course, I want you to think about the causes of the American Revolution. What were the true limitations of this system of governance from the perspective of those living in British North America (i.e. the 13 original colonies)? I would advise you to review the posted content to give you some historical content.