The Creation of the American Republic, 1776-1787 by Gordon S. Wood

The struggles of plutocracy in government are still with us.īased on the sheer number of sources Wood draws from, it would be a mischaracterization to say that the early days produced a grand unified political theory, to be preserved. The question of representation between states led to the later struggles over popular sovereignty and the rights of the minority which led to the Civil War and beyond. Some of these problems were alleviated with the implementation of the Constitution - bicameral legislature, judicial review, a balance between federal power and individual liberty, etc., but there was still much room to err. There also developed a sort of 'democratic despotism', where an educated wealthy elite was able to ascend to high office more quickly and this dominate political discussion.

The Articles of Confederation were a catastrophe, leading to too much of a division of power. Of course, these ideal visions had a harsh collision with reality. This, of course, led to Madison's ideal of the compound republic, popular sovereignty, the rule of law, separation of powers, discussions on the roles of conventions and referendums, etc.

This was to be entrenched with the writing of the Constitution and the development of new political institutions where others (Montesquieu) had only theorized before. Civic virtue (enforcement against corruption), public welfare, safety- a 'Christian Sparta', a sort of community-oriented civic virtue against political wrong-doing. The majority of American liberal democratic foundations are derived from such. One of Wood's main concepts is the history of republicanism, the ideology of republics. The main factor in revolution was that of external hegemony, arbitrary tyranny, and corruption leading to rule from outside instead of self-determination. The colonies, even after taxation, were still incredibly prosperous. The historical and ideological roots of early American thought were numerous - the classical Republics of antiquity, mercantile republics such as the Venetians and Dutch, and of course, the English mixed semi-constitutional monarchy. Apparently this is assigned to grad students, but I had this crammed in undergrad.

A magisterial overlook at the history and concepts behind the formation of the United States.

The Creation of the American Republic, 1776-1787 by Gordon S. Wood