how different was the american form of government from the british form of government?
89710
The most radical departure was the presidency, instead of a monarchy.  The British had the Magna Carta, and actually a pretty good judicial system (which we adopted to a great extent), and they had parliament which was not that different from congress.  But a monarchy that is inherited is vastly different from a presidency which is voted upon every four years.
693139
the US is a mainly a republic  with a touch of democracy. a democracy is government that every issue would be voted on by the people. a republic is where the people elected someone to vote for them on issue. the only time we are democracy is when we vote directly on issues.
896597
This is a hard one, having lived in both places. The USA does appear to have the edge on the written constitution and the checks and balances offered by congress. However, the past six years show how that can be abused when the executive and congress are in cohorts. Europe does have the edge in civility and style.
809090
The USA is not a democracy we are a Republic.\nThis is a Republic\nOur Nation, The United States of America, is a REPUBLIC UNDER LAW not a democracy which was anathema to our founding fathers. The Constitution is the law, not popular opinion. \n\nA democracy is basically a 'majority rules' form of government, which is great for those who are part and parcel of the 'majority' but has the ability to deprive the minority of life, liberty and property. They can do this because all laws are determined by majority opinion which has no higher authority to answer to. A republic, on the other hand, is governed by law which cannot be changed by just any whim of the majority. \n\nOur nation is made of 50 states each with it's own Republican form of government [a prerequisite to statehood] and governed by it's own constitution.  In order to function as a whole, the states needed some form of federal government to handle matters which were beyond the scope of any one state's government; thus was born the Constitution of the United States of America. The Constitution granted clearly defined and limited powers to the Federal government in the areas of national defense, international affairs, interstate commerce and little else; the rest was left up to the individual states just as it was for the previous 150 years under their Charters from Great Britain [it was the usurpation and misuse of those powers by the King of Great Britain that eventually resulted in the war for independence]. \n\nThe Declaration of Independence says that God, our creator, has given us "certain unalienable rights" among which are "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness". The Constitution gives teeth to the Declaration by providing a permanent [they hoped] rule of law which would extend these blessings to many generations of our posterity. \n\nLiberty is precious, many have died for it. Obviously in any society liberty must be limited to prevent one person's liberty from encroaching upon the liberty of another, thus the need for governments [in our case the Constitution]. When one person uses their liberty to deprive another person of his or her life, liberty or property; it is the job of government [state government under the Constitution] to mete out justice which may require a loss of liberty, property and possibly life for the offender as he or she is forced to make restitution. \n\nThe founding fathers knew very well that men are easily corrupted when given too much power as any reading of James Madison's notes on the Constitutional Convention will make very clear. In light of this they went to great pains to assure that our new federal government would stand the test of time without degenerating into tyranny of which they were sorely afraid. All states were given equal representation in the Senate regardless of population and the government was divided into three branches: executive, judicial and legislative with a design to provide checks and balances on each other so no one of them would get out of hand. It has indeed stood the test of time and, if fact, has become the model for many other constitutions worldwide.
4881
I assume you are asking if he was the first President of the United States. This is a common misconception. He was the President of the United States in Congress, a title given to the head of the legislature under the Articles of Confederation, a brief experiment between the Revolution and the Constitution, which had no executive branch, and thus no president, at least as we conceive him. He was instead something like a prime minister, though even that is a stretch. He had very little real power in his position. Besides, if you're really going to say that his position is equivalent, then the first president would have to be Peyton Randolph, who served as the President of the First Continental Congress.
80534
There were issues regarding the Brittish Crown's decision to have the Colonies of America pay for the French & Indian War.  This led to an outcry of "Taxation without Representation," the notion that Americans were being taxed by the Brittish Parlaiment without the American's voices being officially heard during the consideration.  \nAs a result, many started toying with the idea of independent rule.  This led to many other events and eventually the Declaration of Independence and the American Revolution.  David McCullough's 1776 is a great book to use as a guide.
20629
In the United States, our government is the system of power that acts on behalf of its people. The U.S. government was designed to serve the American people. Our government protects our rights and preserves our freedoms. Governments are set up to make and enforce laws. In this section, we will look at the basic types of governments in the world, yet the main emphasis will be placed on the understanding our American government system.\n\nIn the United States there are three levels of government. The federal government (national level) makes and enforces laws for our nation. The fifty state governments (state level) make and enforce laws for their respective states. Each city or town in which a person lives has a city or town government (local level) that makes and enforces laws for their community. The most powerful of the three levels is our federal (national level) government.
148370
The United States of America is a federal republic situated primarily in North America.\n\nThe United States is, indeed, a republic, not a democracy. Accurately defined, a democracy is a form of government in which the people decide policy matters directly--through town hall meetings or by voting on ballot initiatives and referendums. A republic, on the other hand, is a system in which the people choose representatives who, in turn, make policy decisions on their behalf.\n\nBy popular usage, however, the word "democracy" come to mean a form of government in which the government derives its power from the people and is accountable to them for the use of that power. In this sense the United States might accurately be called a democracy.
231430
umm... well, theres a democratic republic.. that IS our government, we dont really have more than one government in America. but, each states has its own government, though not as powerful in some areas as the national government, and you also have county, city, and community governments
112678
Both are based on a bilateral system of government,Britain has the crown as the head of state,its powers restricted by \nconventions,you have the president whose powers are wider,therefore he can be more dangerous(vide Bush).
1031175
No there is no difference what so ever.It is time for Americans to stand up and restore our republic it is time for a revolution.Don't you think.They are all crooks and they just gave themselves another raise while they rip us off.I think American don't have the back bone our founding fathers had.We have grown up being pampered to the point most are to lazy and to scared to stand up for themselves.
330427
huge difference one was democratically elected and kept it, and installed his own party to control everything. The other had to be re-elected and has competetion..thats why they call it a democracy.
896076
you should be able to do a search on that pretty easily. I think the anti feds wanted a government like they had in britain. with kings and such so the constitution was against thier plan. it's like modern day socialist in america. everyone wants to be a socialist if they are the ones making the rules and determining pay, nobody wants to be at the bottom but when you feel you have a chance to be at the top you might push a little harder to rule others
315608
When the framers decided to declare independence the only government that they had known was the oppressive monarchy of England.  When they set up the first government they wanted to get as far away from that structure as they could, which is why they created a very very weak central government, with most of the power vested in the states.  There was no central executive or judicial branches, and only a unicameral legislature, with essentially no power.  After they saw what a mess this created, with no regulation of commerce among the states; different currencies for different states; states discriminating against citizens of other states; and having nothing 'united' about the states at all; they realized that a change was necessary.  Experiencing these two extremes of the government, along with help from philosophers like Locke and Hobbes, showed them what a federal government had to have the power to do, but at the same time showed them what the federal government could not have the power to do.  It was the perfect 'happy medium' from the two far extreme possibilities.  There is no other way that the government could have remained essentially unchanged for the past 200+ years.
161695
Usually, revolutions come a bout from a radical sect of people would disagree with the status quo and rebel, sometimes very violently, against their government. The American Revolution stands apart from these because it was a conservative revolution, one that people rebel against their government for disrupting the status quo. \n\nThe first example of Britain altering the status quo in the area of politics was the Proclamation of 1763. This piece of legislature was created in response to Pontiac's rebellion. The Proclamation drew an imaginary line on the Appalachian crest and stated that Indians must remain to the west of that line and the colonists to the east. This angered the colonists because it put their western claims under royal control and severely limiting their expansion.
653368
Good explanation on it. It is true that America might as well could be faucist but then again we are capitolist so that's one MAJOR difference.
346378
Question 1: The 13 colonial governments took a variety of forms. By 1775, eight of the original colonies had royal governors, who were appointed by the king. Three- Maryland, Pennsylvania, & Delaware were under proprietors who themselves chose the governors. And two- Connecticut and Rhonde Island elected their own governors under self-governoring charters. Practically every colony utilized a two-house legislative body. The upper bosy,or council was normally appointed by the crown in the royal colonies. The lower house, as the popular branch was elected by the people, or rather those who owned enough property to qualify as voters.  (I will get back with you on the other answers)