The Beginnings

As long as Americans are striving hard to get rich, they will be sure to protect their own rights, rights that are rooted since colonial America. Americans today fiercely defend their rights today, wanting a voice in the government and the ability to speak one's mind. As it turns out, the roots of this type of thought can again be found in colonial America- the Virginians in 1619 suggested that colonists "might have a hande (sic) in the governinge (sic) of themselves". Even when the Crown terminated the Virginia Company's charter in 1624 (which gave them authority to govern themselves on that set piece of land) the Virginians continued to hold "conventions and after 1630 held their own Assembly and proceeded to legislate. In the new world, everybody wanted freedom, encouraged by the fact that land was not scarce, and in the case of Massachusetts, the first year alone saw the application for the rights of the freeman of over a hundred settlers. America's franchise had adopted an attitude of widening freely, giving settlers more rights and duties within the government. Even with the expansion of Massachusetts, where it became impractical for everybody to meet and decide issues, representation was still favored, where men elected proxies for them, and thus the creation of a republic was also born along with democracy, the system of government today in the United States. Along with the town meetings, the Puritans laid out their towns so that it would be suitable for town meetings, such that the towns were compact so that people were close together, leading to closely knit groups of people. It is inevitable, then that strong local governments of great importance were created, a movement of great significance in America- even today, many laws are still decided by states, such as laws regarding marriage.