Colonial America and United States- Difference?

I wanted to hear other people's thought and debate on this matter because a lot of the students in my Government class keep on saying every reason we seperated from England is what we kept over the decades.
i mainly want to know what do you think of the American system from the Colonial American system?

The list of reasons why we seperated from England(from the top of my head btw)
1. taxes
2. Church interference
3. Arrested for wrongs that are now illegal
4. Arrested for not paying debt
5. quartering troops into family homes.
6. can't be convincted of the same thing 2x

Alright we still have church interference or gay marriage would be allowed.
We still have taxes but it is what keeps our economy stable
Nobody arrested as far as I know
Can be arrested if done by bouncing checks
We take people's land during war. Good example is the war going on right now
Watch "Catch me if you can"

I hope I made my point clear but I want to hear other's thoughts, comments, and debate

 

I'd say that European influence had been inflicted so deeply into early Colonial America (initial immigrants were pretty much all European) that America just stayed on that path.

That's why the laws, norms and I guess thoughts are similar to when America seperated itself to gain indepedence.

Btw, i'm not American, i'm one of those ******* English you guys seperated from! :P

 

The list of reasons why we seperated from England(from the top of my head btw)
1. taxes
2. Church interference
3. Arrested for wrongs that are now illegal
4. Arrested for not paying debt
5. quartering troops into family homes.
6. can't be convincted of the same thing 2x


The one thing you forgot to mention is locality in this list, which is what makes the situation different. The UK and U.S. both have significantly changed and the UK does not do certain things it did back then which caused the revolt. Time is different and the government of the UK is vastly separate of what it once was.

1. Taxes - No taxation without representation and such. Taxes were collected for the UK, went overseas and were distributed to where the UK sought it to be distributed. This meant that the colonial citizens often did not see their taxes at local work. They could also be taxed for nearly anything and sometimes even taxed multiple times for any lame reason on the same product etc. The leaders in the UK saw it as a cash hog, as did the Spanish and others too, and the colonists were not able to often keep up with the ridiculous taxes that were being introduced for whatever reason given. Yes, we have taxes still but these taxes are meant to go to programs and such to support the U.S. and we -can- argue some taxes if we want to by sticking together and lobbying. We have a way of getting involved in politics that was not possible with the UK overseeing. The governments in Europe on the whole were rather brutal. Everyone in this day and age has toned down but the taxation issue definitely is one of those things that has.

2. Religious/Church interference in the law and government - Yes, sometimes we have issues with religion rearing its head and it attempts to do things but we are also not under -one- religion, nor -one- church. Back then, England was ruled by a monarchy with the Catholic church having serious involvement in things. Protestantism was on the rise in the country and also in neighboring countries which were part of the UK at the time. Many colonists fled to not be persecuted by religion and the law to this day does hold true in most cases that religion in itself and one dominant church is not permitted to make our laws or uphold them. If you actually study law, the differences are quite remarkable for both the U.S. and the U.K. from back then. Yes, religion sometimes does involve itself in government, but definitely not to the level it did and we do not have one governing church. In fact, we are not -allowed- to by the Constitution. We can also debate and lobby against things that have to do with religion, etc. This would have been rather unheard of back then as the punishment for going against religion often meant going against the government, which could label you not only as a heretic but also a traitor. If someone today in either government is not a Catholic, Protestant etc, they cannot be also labeled a traitor. Also, marriages and such are not officially recognized legally until people fill out paperwork before a judge, whether married in a church or not. This is why, even if there is a debate over gay marriage, it was made legal in Vermont and other places do fight for it. The church cannot officially make anyone much of anything anymore.

3. Arrested for wrong doings that were against the UK or the religion, which at the time were the same, pretty much, were done. Also, with Puritanism, people were arrested and tortured, killed, branded, etc for various unfair crimes without a true court of law. Of course, both the U.K. and U.S. changed these things around in this day and age.

4. Arrested for not paying debt - There are many people in both countries now that owe money due to bounced checks, failure to pay etc. It can go to court though small fees seldom will and a person instead will just be harassed by financial companies until they pay. Also, you get the stab that your credit report is going to suck. When dealing with major debt owed if the payment is for say a house or car or some other property, the companies and banks can sue, take the items back legally etc. Seldom do people actually get arrested and jailed for debt anymore. It just makes life more difficult in other ways. It's just not common for people to be punished much more than that as in actual jail time.

5. Quartering troops in homes - This practice was done years ago but yes, was abolished in the U.S. I think I can safely say it was also removed from the U.K. as well later on. This doesn't refer to some country invading another country or wars happening. It refers to back in colonial times that British soldiers would move into an area and then by law had the right to distribute soldiers to houses of locals and they were to be taken care of, fed, allowed to bathe and rest in the local person's house. The practice had a lot of problems with it including thefts, rudeness, forcing oppression on the locals etc. Even if you think that the Iraq war is wrong, no soldier was permitted to stay at someone's residence and were waited on hand and foot. This law to this day is adhered to that also soldiers in the U.S. cannot stay in U.S. homes by force, nor any other nation's.

6. Can't be convicted of the same crime twice - There is a catch 22 to this but yes, you cannot be tried for the same crime twice in the -same- court of law if you are found innocent. Some things to consider when dealing with the rule of double jeopardy.
- Same court twice. - This means that if a state court and a federal court want to charge the person, if the state court says the person is innocent, the federal court may still try the person under its own laws if a crime is seen as federal as well as state. This also deals with civil cases versus criminal cases too, as both imply different things.
- Of course, if you are accused of a crime.. say aggravated assault against Steve, and are found innocent, yet after go beat on Steve, of course you can be convicted again because it is a new crime despite the similar circumstances.
- If a charge is thrown out of court due to lack of evidence and new evidence later is found, because it was tossed out at the time and not given a guilty or innocent charge, it can be brought up again at a later time. This is due to having received no solid verdict in final judgment.

Other than that, no one can be tried for the same crime twice once found innocent of the crime.

Hope that clarifies some things for you.