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Even after Lexington and Concord, most colonists simply saw themselves as defending their rights as citizens of the British Empire. They believed in a peaceful settlement. Others believed that if the Crown could tax them without representation, then other rights might be taken away from them.
Belief in self-government helped bring about the American Revolution. The colonists freed themselves from the political control of Great Britain. Power is given to the government by its citizens, as written in the U.S. Constitution, and through its elected representatives.
Why was a measure of self-government necessary in the colonies during the colonial era? A. Self-government was the only way to protect North American colonists’ liberties. Great Britain did not want to govern its North American colonies.
The idea of self-government was encouraged by the Glorious Revolution and the 1689 Bill of Rights which established that the British Parliament—and not the king—had the ultimate authority in government.
The American colonists and later American revolutionaries carried on this tradition by drafting some important documents of their own promoting the ideas of self-government. Written in 1620, the Mayflower Compact was the first document of self-government created in America.
Learn more about the history and principles of self-government in the United States, and check your understanding of this topic with a quiz. Self-government is a system in which the citizens of a country (or smaller political unit, such as a state) rule themselves and control their own affairs.
In this important document of self-government, the English people required the regal authority to execute laws only with the consent of Parliament. It limited the King’s powers in many ways. For example, it forbade him from maintaining a standing army during peacetime without the express approval of the Parliament.