William Chrisman High School - Gleam Yearbook (Independence, MO)

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'l'l'IE GLEAVI lea1 ned that then tl oops could Hvht as Well as the B11t1sh tl oops Thls gave the Ameucans new confidence 1n then powel to 1es1st ty1anny We may compale colonlal and Buush gove1 ments bv an ontlme E l d K 1 EX6Cl1tlV6 ng an ma Am 61 1ca Govel no1 House of Loxds fEngland 9 houses House of Commons 2 Leg1slat1ve Qouncll LAme11ca 2 bodies House of Deputies Supeuol Com ts 3 Judlcxal both had the same LoWe1 COl11lIS lhe colonlal oHic1als obtalned then posltlons 1n Cll1'f61 ent Wavs The gove1no1s ln Lonnectlcut and Rhode Island wele elected bv the people but ID Nlfuyland and Pennsylvama, they wele appolnted by the plopuetols and ln 1he lest of the colonles they Wcle appomted by the klno' The 001111011 ln e Ameucan colonlal assemblles Was appomted, and the House of Deputles was elected ln both England and Ameuca the Judges 16C61V6d then 0611068 by appolntment ln England, they held ofhce fo1 l1fe 01 duung good behav1o1, u 1U Ameuca the lxlll0 01 gove1 nor could put them out of oflice at any t1me The people of Inngland dld not gain then l1be1 ty at any pal tlculal t1me It 0-Lew slowly but Slllliily The hast gleat event ID the h1sto1y of Engllsh fleedom was the Magna Lha1ta ln 1915, by whlch thlee ughts deal to GVCIY Enfrllshman wele obtalned those of the t11al by July, no taxatlon Wlthout 1ep xesentatlon, flee and unlestucted justlce The next step towald f1ee1 and bet tel govelnment was the House of Commons 1n 1265 Th1s was the Iilst t1me m the h1sto1y of England that all classes wele 1ep1esented1n the natlonal coun c l 111 eat advancement was made ln the xelgn of Edwald III Palllament was then d1v1ded 1nto two bodles and the pet1t1ons of the commons became laws as soon as Slaned by the kind Pal llament also galned the ught to lmpeach lung s OMCGIS and ID thls Wav made the lung 1espons1ble to Palhament, Ol the people The Enofllsh Refmmatlon paved the way for fxeedom of thought and use of Pm 1tan1sm The Petltlon of Rlghts was the outgl owth of th1s 1I1'flLl6IlC9 Th1s petltlon plovlded no t1 oops should be qua1te1 ed on people 1n lC1I1l8 of peace, that them should be no a1b1t1a1v taxatlon O1 a1b1t1a1y1mp11sonment Llbeltv was assuled thc people of England 1n the B111 of Rlghts, Whlch was b1ought about by the Envhsh Revolutlon 'lhe leadmg pI1IlC1pl6S of the B1ll of Rlfrh s ale no qua1te11ng of llOOpS 1n t1me ot peace, no suspenslon of the wut of o 15 ' . I p 0 1 . 1: ' . ' . ' ' . ' 1 1 '1 - , , - I I. . I I H . I ............... .......... ........ 4 D . ' --------1- ---.. .-.- 1 '. v I l . -3 . f I 4 . . l s , .I ...... ,... . ..'4I l 1 . ............. 4 . , , . l I I 1, ' , ......,.. -4I - lI . V I' .' . 1 . . . I . . , - ............. .................... -4 I I u 1 1 ,, . . - . .I . . . . I I .. , , - 1 ' , . . . ' ' 7 , , d ' I 1 ' - -' . 4 ' L I I Q - za' . . I. I I. I . . II - n - , - , . ' . .' ' . b t a zo . ' ,' v' Q - 1 ' D . . . I . 5 . 1 , . ' ' . .' . . . . L D ,, . n 7 7 I I . , . 1 -' ' ' l I Q . Q - . - I I , - v u ' ' - F3 I 1 ' 1 . n . 1 l ' 1 . ' . . - I I . I: U. , L. Ll 9 - , ' - .' I-K Q I I u c 0 I, .II I r I I. I . . I ' , .I . - ' ' . ' 1 I l I A . l I ' l I 4 1-1 . 1 . I. I I I I, I I I , .... I . . . . I D . ,., ll

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,. . .,,. 0 D. . I Brhrlnprmvnt nf the Glnlnniw. H 1 RINCIPLES, like ultimate particles of matter, and the laws of God, are eternal, indestructable and unchangeable. They have existed in the moral realm of our world since the advent ofiman, and devious as may be their manifestations, according to circumstances, they remain the same, inherently, 'and always exhibit the same tendencies. When God gave to man an intelligent soul, and invested him with the prerogatives of moral free agency, then was born that instinctive love of liberty, which through all past time, has manifest- ed itself in individuals and in societies: and in every age, the consciences of men have boldly and indignantly asked in presence of oppression, If 1'm design'd. yon Lord1ing's slave By Nature's laws designed. Why was an independent wish E'er planted in my mind? ' If not, why am I subject to His cruelty and scorn? Or why has man the will and power ' 'V To make his fellows mourn? ' Eachicolony got much of itsform of colonial government from England. The Americans got their natural love of Liberty from England, and also their determination to tax themselves through their representatives. They conten- ded for the same principles of government that the people of Englandcon- tended for from 1215, when they forced King John to sign the Magna Charta, to the Revolution of 1688 when the liberty of England was firmly established. It has been said, God sifted the whole English nation to send the best into the wilderness of New England. These people, like the people of Virginia, were lirm opposers of England's tyranny. The colonies always looked at-England as their mother country, until she acted so arbitarily toward them. As Washington said: 'tArbitrary power is most easily established on the ruins of libe1'ty abused to ylicenvtiousnessf' V Before the French and Indian War, the colonies were treated fairly well by England, because the French were back of the English settlements, and naturally a sense of danger bound the colonies closer together towa1'ds Eng- land for help. For this reason England did not strictly enforce the Navigation Acts. But as soon as the French had lost their territor in Ame ' U th I . y rica, e English began to enforce the Navigation Acts, and to make other laws regard- ing commerce. In the town-meetings, and the meetings on county-court da fs in 5 the diferent colonies, the people began to express their sentiments about the arbi- t . . . I ,- . iaiy in e of England. During the French and Indian VVar, the Americans had

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.f - -16 THE GLEAVI. I-Iabeas Corpus, Parliament was made supreme, free elections, that the executive should not interfere with the election of the members of House of Commons, no arbitrary imprisonment, no arbitrary taxation, and that the judges we1'e made independent of the king, by letting then' hold office for life or during good be- havior. The king was violating these principles when he kept the judges under his control, and quartered the troops here and taxed the colonies. VVe will now tu1'n to the growth of independence among the col- onies. The colonies were a great distance from Europe.. England could not rule the colonies as she could a territory nearer England. The people in Eng- land did not know the laws that the Americans needed, nor could they enforce the laws they made. This country was large in extent, and the people were spread out along the Atlantic coast. The peopleled free and independent lives: they were used to depending on themselves against the wild animals, Indians and the French. These circumstances led the people to be spirited and then, too, had been allowed by England to be a self-governing people. The people of the colonies were mostly descended from English, and they claimed the rights of Englishmen, as laid down in theEnglish constitution. I beg you to consider whether the Americans were iight or wrong in 1'ebellion against England. Local government had much to do with the growth of that independent spirit. There were three dilferent forms of local government in the colonies. In New England there was the township government, and there the people was the power. They met once a year to discuss questions concerning welfare of col- onies, to levy taxes, and elect their town oflicers. Thus every person had a voice in the government. Thomas Jefferson said: The townships in New England are the vital principles of their government and have proved them- selves the wisest invention ever devised by the wit of man for the perfect exer- cise of self-government and for its preservation. In the southern states, and especially in Virginia was the country system. The counties were governed by a county court consisting of eight members, appointed at first by the gover- nor, but made a close co-operation by being allowed to iill their vacancies. On county court days, when the courts would meet, the people all over the county would gather in to transact business and to discuss political questions. These meetings took the place of the township meetings as political 'training schools. In the middle colonies was the mixed government, which was on the county form, but the towns sent representatives to the county court. Although there were Dutch, Scotch, Irish, Swedes and French in the colonies, by far the majority of the colonists were English. From the col- Where most were English, was whe1'e the most open resistence to the political II1G3,Sll1'SS that England was trying to fasten on America. The oppressive royal governors led the different colonies to draw nearer together. The two colonies that can give their expressions concerning oppressive governors are Massachusetts and Virginia. Also the commercial policy of England led to a.