# data[].attributes.body
- 1620: Mayflower Compact
-1636: Connecticut draws up America's  first written charter
-By mid-1700s, rapidly growing colonies establishing roots of self-governing
- nevertheless, ultimate allegiance was to the monarchy.

# data[].attributes.body
-John Locke (social contract)
-Rousseau
(Natural rights)
- Thomas Hobbes

# data[].attributes.body
- decision to declare independence from Britain.

# data[].attributes.body
- English had previously established Magna Carta and Bill of Rights
-concept of limited governemnt becoming more accepted during colonization

# data[].attributes.body
By 1776 10 states had established written forms of constitutions that had a bill of rights, and recognizing the people as the sole source of government.

# data[].attributes.body
- leaders included Patrick Henry, George Washington, Samuel Adams, Richard Henry Lee
- declared an embargo on Britain
- boycott of British goods

# data[].attributes.body
Colonists firmly supported electing delegates to make laws and run the government.

# data[].attributes.body
-The French and Indian War drained England, and King George decided to tax the colonies to make up for it.
- The colonists were outraged. Protests led to the replacement of the Stamp Act with the Townshend Acts.
- 1773: Boston Tea Party leads to Parliament passing the Coercive Acts, and the colony of Massachusetts loses the right to self govern.