8/8/2019 Republicanism Quiz

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Rebecca Fabbri

Mr. Blair Bowman

Law and Society: F

Gordon Woods Republicanism Open Book Reading Quiz

Passage:

The Americans' new extended republic in 1787 flew in the face of these traditional 

assumptions and made their experiment in republicanism a highly risky venture

indeed. A national republic that encompassed a huge society of diverse interests and 

sprawled over half a continent demanded new explanations. Much of the originality 

and creativity of the Framers' political thought accompanying the creation of the

Constitution in 1787-1788, including The Federalist, came from their need to justify 

the republicanism of the new federal government in opposition to the conventional 

wisdom of the day. Gordon Wood, Republicanism in The Readers Companionto American History

America is based off the principle of Republicanism. Republicanisms origin

extends back to the Roman republic, and is still is prevalent in present day.

Exceptional writers of the Roman republic, such as Cicero, Sallust, Tacitus, andPlutarch, lived after the greatest days of the republic. Thus, they contrasted the³stratification, corruption, and disorder´ they lived in with an imagined earlier world

of rustic simplicity and virtue. (Wood) Thus, through these pessimistic writers, whomexplained the republic¶s decline, we were left with a legacy of beliefs and values.

These beliefs and values explain many elements, which have influenced Western

culture greatly.The Italian philosopher Machiavelli, a Renaissance writer, furthered this

 philosophy of the Roman Republic by introducing ³civic humanism´. (Wood) ³Civil

humanism´ is defined as ³a tradition that stressed the moral character of theindependent citizen as the prerequisite to good politics and disinterested service to the

country. To be good citizens people had to be free of control by others and free of theinfluence of selfish interests.´ This idea was then continued into Northern Europe¶s

culture, where it influenced seventeenth-century republicans, who later influenced popularizers and translators in the 18

thcentury. This then had a great influence on the

American Revolution leaders.American Revolution leaders adapted republicanism in 1776, thus setting forth

moral and social goals for America. However, at this time in history, there were onlyfew republics left- the Netherlands and the city-states of Italy and Switzerland. Thus,

these republics were small and larger states which attempted to establish republicsfaced inevitable failure; a military dictatorship. However, America¶s diverse and

opinionate framers, still worked to create a republic which encompassed all of ³Americans¶´ views. The Founding Fathers were able to compromise, mirroring

equality throughout The Constitution. The idea of Checks and Balances, as well as 3

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 branches of government is a considered normal  for us Americans, however for allother countries in the world, the system is unique.

Our Constitution allows ³W e the people´ to have a say in the government,while also maintain sanity with some formal ³central government´. We saw that

under the Articles of Confederation the failure our nation faced. Thus, with the

equality of our government and it¶s people, we are able to see the importance of republicanism today. Although there are many debates on the Constitution and theinterpretations of our Constitution, we can see that overall this document was well

constructed. Similar to the Roman Republic¶s writers, this document is America¶s³rustic simplicity and pastoral virtue.´ (Wood) Meaning, that this document is our 

fundamental building block to our nation and it is crucial for the continuing of American government.