America Chapters 5-6 Flashcards
how did Paine define the word republic?
‘the public good or the good of the whole’
Republicanism according to Farmer
‘Republicanism, essentially, was government by the consent of the governed.’
Popular Sovereignty
the idea that political power should be held by the people, central proposition of republican principles
quote Virginia Declaration of Rights (popular sovereignty)
‘All power is vested in, and consequently derived from, the people… magistrates are their trustees and servants, and at all times amenable to them.’
In May 1776 Congress adopted a resolution by _______ calling on all states that did not have a permanent constitution based on popular sovereignty to adopt one.
John Adams
Between 1776 and 1780 all but two states (_____) adopted new constitutions
Rohde Island and Connecticut which just revised their colonial charters, deleting reference to royal authority
Americans divided into two camps in their struggle about who should rule at home, these were:
elitists and democrats
Elitists
- men who had led the assemblies
- wanted to preserve order and prevent anarchy
- wanted republics where people chose the best men to govern and then stood aside to let them do so, governing along the lines of the formal colonial system
what did the democrats favour?
- a broad franchise
- no (or low) property qualifications for office holding
- frequent elections
- one-housed (unicameral) legislatures: they felt there was no need for an aristocratic second chamber
- a weak executive
what did the elitists favour?
- limited property qualification franchise and office holders
- infrequent elections
- two-housed (bicameral) legislature, one representing the people, the other the elite
- the governors would have wide ranging powers
What’s an executive?
the power or authority in government that carries the law into effect; persons who administer the government
Virginia Constitution quote on separation of powers
‘the legislative, executive and judiciary departments shall be separate and distinct.’
What is the Separation of Powers?
a system of government in which power is shared between the legislative, the executive and the judiciary, ensuring no branch can become dominant.
Bills of Rights
enumerated liberties like freedom of expression, worship and assembly and rights. The constitutions set out not only governments’ powers but also their limits.
What does Jackson Turner Main (1978) argue about legislatures?
the state legislatures after 1775 were significantly different from those before.
Statistic to show that state legislatures differed after 1775
Pre-1775 voters overwhelmingly selected representatives from among the rich. By 1873 the proportion of men from old elite families in the legislatures had dropped from 46 to 22 per cent.
What does Jackson Turner Main claim the primary division in American politics to be between?
agrarian-localist interests VS commercial-cosmopolitan interests
What does Colin Bonwick (1991) argue about the states’ handling of their own finances etc.
the states’ record of effective administration was ‘far better than contemporary, and later critics have allowed’
___ colonies prohibited established churches
nine
all the New England states except Rhode Island continued to require taxpayers to support_____
public Protestant worship
What did the Articles of Confederation do?
provided for a central government with limited powers
- congress was one body in which each state had one vote (regardless of size of population)
- no provision for a national executive or a national judiciary
- important measures like treaties needed the approval of at least nine states
- the Articles couldn’t be amended without the consent of all thirteen states
- Congress had no power to levy taxes, regulate trade or enforce financial requisitions
What did Dickinson view the Confederation as?
a ‘firm league of friendship’
When did the Articles obtain congressional approval?
November 1777
When were the Articles finally ratified?
March 1781