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America’s First Constitutions and Declarations of Rights
firmly established in the colonial period, and helped to prepare the nation for the concept of federalism that triumphed in the Constitutional
Convention of 1787.
6. In general, most American colonists enjoyed a great deal of religious
liberty. There was some religious intolerance, however, even though colonial governments were more tolerant of dissenting or minority sects
than were European governments. Freedom of speech was protected by
British statutes and the common law, and the American press was also
much freer than that of most of Europe.
7. The important turning point in Anglo-American relations was 1763,
when the British adopted a bold new policy that sought to establish a new
economic relationship between the colonies and the mother country. The
Stamp Act, passed in 1763 for the purpose of raising revenue, met with
the cry: ‘‘No taxation without representation.’’ It was the first in a series
of parliamentary laws that led eventually to the American Revolution.
8. In the Declaration and Resolves of the First Continental Congress
(1774), the colonists declared that, ‘‘by the immutable laws of nature, the
principles of the English Constitution, and the several [colonial] charters,’’ they were ‘‘entitled to life, liberty and property [and] all the
rights, liberties, and immunities of free and natural born subjects
within the realm of England [and] to the common law of England.’’ Rejecting legislative supremacy, they asserted that the legislative authority
of Parliament was limited by the higher law of the Constitution. In their
Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking up Arms (1775), the
colonists listed their grievances against Parliament, declaring they were
‘‘resolved to die freemen rather than to live slaves.’’
9. The Preamble of the Declaration of Independence is based on the
theory that the American people are entitled to certain natural rights,
including life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and that