Thursday, March 29, 2012

Asselin, Kristine Carlson. The Real Story about Government and Politics in Colonial America.


Capstone Publishers, 2012.    30p   $19.99  ISBN 978-1-42966-139-3  elm/ms    VG-BNes          
     This book is an introduction to the government and politics of colonial America that explains how laws were created and enforced, who ran the government, what Native American laws were like, and more.  Upper elementary students will gain a better understanding of how government and politics were handled by the thirteen colonies from 1607 to 1776. 
     During this time, the colonies based their governments on the system in Great Britain.  Before the colonists arrived in America, American Indian tribes ruled the land and established their own forms of government.  The Iroquois Confederacy and the Powhatan Confederacy are described in detail.  When more colonists arrived, the American Indians were pushed out of their lands and moved westward. 
     The colonies were created by men seeking charters from Great Britain’s king, and each colony set up its formal system of government while Parliament gave them permission to create laws and taxes.  Each colony was appointed a governor and then selected twelve men to serve on the governor's council.  Citizens were elected to the colony's assembly.  The governor appointed the sheriff, coroner, judges, and constables.  In the section on crime and punishment, students learn that criminals were branded on their right hands.  Serious crimes were punished by hanging, and the famous Salem witch trials are described. 
     Four wars were fought in America between 1689 and 1763, and their cost forced Great Britain to tax the colonies.  As a result of these taxes, Parliament passed the Stamp Act, but it was later revoked by the Townsend Act.  The colonists did not like being taxed, and in Boston forty-five tons of tea were destroyed in the Boston Tea Party.
     The book includes reprints of color portraits, “Fast Fact” boxes, glossary terms interspersed through the chapters, an additional glossary at the back, recommended books and Internet sites, and an index.  Students are also given a code to use on FactHound to gain additional information.  Each title in the Life in American Colonies series includes primary sources, maps, and fun-to-read, fact-filled texts that provide the answers to what life was really like in the American colonies. At the time of this review six titles have been published. 
Subject: United States -- Politics and government.
Charleen Forba-Maye
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