146-970: The Alliance of European Republican Movements ( AERM ) is a grouping of republican movements from across Europe . It was established in Stockholm in June 2010, after the wedding of Swedish Crown Princess Victoria and Daniel Westling . The aim of the AERM is to provide a network for cross-party republican movements in all the countries of Europe that have a monarch as their head of state, in order to share information, resources and ideas and provide mutual assistance. Each member organisation will retain their autonomous national campaigns however, in recognition of their particular political and constitutional circumstances. There are currently twelve extant monarchies in Europe . AERM has member organisations in six of these: Denmark ,
292-484: A British warship that had been vigorously enforcing unpopular trade regulations, in what became known as the Gaspee Affair . The affair was investigated for possible treason, but no action was taken. In 1773, private letters were published in which Massachusetts Governor Thomas Hutchinson claimed that the colonists could not enjoy all English liberties, and in which Lieutenant Governor Andrew Oliver called for
438-548: A boycott on imports of all British merchandise . American spokesmen such as Samuel Adams, James Otis, John Hancock, John Dickinson, Thomas Paine, and many others, rejected aristocracy and propounded " republicanism " as the political philosophy that was best suited to American conditions. The Parliament at Westminster saw itself as the supreme lawmaking authority throughout the Empire and thus entitled to levy any tax without colonial approval or even consultation. They argued that
584-507: A crucial role in the development of European liberalism: By abandoning English constitutionalism and creating a new republic based on the rights of the individual, the North Americans introduced a new force in the world. Ideas spread most rapidly when they have found adequate concrete expression. Thus republicanism entered our Romanic/Germanic world.... Up to this point, the conviction had prevailed in Europe that monarchy best served
730-480: A draft constitution for Paoli'se use. Similarly, Voltaire affirmed in his Précis du siècle de Louis XV (1769: chapter LX) that " Bravery may be found in many places, but such bravery only among free peoples ". But the influence of the Corsican Republic as an example of a sovereign people fighting for liberty and enshrining this constitutionally in the form of an Enlightened republic was even greater among
876-566: A friend that in England "almost sixteen thousand has gone off – and in Ireland above forty thousand". Paine may have been inclined to talk up sales of his works but what is striking in this context is that Paine believed that Irish sales were so far ahead of English ones before Part II had appeared. On 5 June 1792, Thomas Paine , author of the Rights of Man was proposed for honorary membership of
1022-621: A laboratory for such political experiments, Corsica combined a number of factors that made it unique: a tradition of village democracy; varied cultural influences from the Italian city-states, Spanish empire and Kingdom of France which left it open to the ideas of the Italian Renaissance , Spanish humanism and French Enlightenment ; and a geo-political position between these three competing powers which led to frequent power vacuums in which new regimes could be set up, testing out
1168-479: A large military and naval force: Convinced that the Revolution was the work of a full few miscreants who had rallied an armed rabble to their cause, they expected that the revolutionaries would be intimidated .... Then the vast majority of Americans, who were loyal but cowed by the terroristic tactics ... would rise up, kick out the rebels, and restore loyal government in each colony. Washington forced
1314-832: A meeting with representatives from Congress to negotiate an end to hostilities. A delegation including John Adams and Benjamin Franklin met British admiral Richard Howe on Staten Island in New York Harbor on September 11 in what became known as the Staten Island Peace Conference . Howe demanded that the Americans retract the Declaration of Independence , which they refused to do, and negotiations ended. The British then seized New York City and nearly captured Washington's army. They made
1460-517: A much larger force. As Benjamin Franklin wrote to Joseph Priestley in October 1775: Britain, at the expense of three millions, has killed 150 Yankees this campaign, which is £20,000 a head ... During the same time, 60,000 children have been born in America. From these data his mathematical head will easily calculate the time and expense necessary to kill us all. In the winter of 1775,
1606-473: A regeneration of their country". By 1795, Tone's republicanism and that of the society had openly crystallized when he tells us: "I remember particularly two days thae we passed on Cave Hill. On the first Russell, Neilson, Simms, McCracken and one or two more of us, on the summit of McArt's fort, took a solemn obligation...never to desist in our efforts until we had subverted the authority of England over our country and asserted her independence." The culmination
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#17327796723621752-668: A republic became a powerful force in Britain's North American colonies, where it contributed to the American Revolution . In Europe, it gained enormous influence through the French Revolution and through the First French Republic of 1792–1804. In Ancient Greece , several philosophers and historians analysed and described elements we now recognize as classical republicanism . Traditionally,
1898-464: A republic was any stable well-governed political community. Both Plato and Aristotle identified three forms of government: democracy , aristocracy , and monarchy . First Plato and Aristotle, and then Polybius and Cicero, held that the ideal republic is a mixture of these three forms of government. The writers of the Renaissance embraced this notion. Cicero expressed reservations concerning
2044-497: A scientific methodology to the problems of governance through the rigorous study and application of past experience and experimentation in governance. This is the approach that may best be described to apply to republican thinkers such as Niccolò Machiavelli (as evident in his Discourses on Livy ), John Adams, and James Madison . The word "republic" derives from the Latin noun-phrase res publica (public thing), which referred to
2190-805: A structure of shared sovereignty during prosecution of the Revolutionary War and facilitating international relations and alliances. The Articles were fully ratified on March 1, 1781. At that point, the Continental Congress was dissolved and a new government of the United States in Congress Assembled took its place the following day, on March 2, 1782, with Samuel Huntington leading the Congress as presiding officer. According to British historian Jeremy Black ,
2336-474: A vehicle for deliberation and collective action. During secret debates, conservative Joseph Galloway proposed the creation of a colonial Parliament that would be able to approve or disapprove acts of the British Parliament, but his idea was tabled in a vote of 6 to 5 and was subsequently removed from the record. Congress called for a boycott beginning on December 1, 1774, of all British goods; it
2482-468: Is also sometimes called civic humanism . Beyond simply a non-monarchy, early modern thinkers conceived of an ideal republic, in which mixed government was an important element, and the notion that virtue and the common good were central to good government. Republicanism also developed its own distinct view of liberty . Renaissance authors who spoke highly of republics were rarely critical of monarchies. While Niccolò Machiavelli 's Discourses on Livy
2628-526: Is engaged in a direct relationship with the state , removing the need for identity politics based on local, religious, or racial identification. Républicanisme , in theory, makes anti-discrimination laws unnecessary, though some critics may argue that in republics also, colour-blind laws serve to perpetuate discrimination. Inspired by the American and French Revolutions, the Society of United Irishmen
2774-504: Is practicable or efficacious, or just which shall not include Irishmen of every religious persuasion. The declaration, then, urged constitutional reform, union among Irish people and the removal of all religious disqualifications. The movement was influenced, at least in part, by the French Revolution. Public interest, already strongly aroused, was brought to a pitch by the publication in 1790 of Edmund Burke 's Reflections on
2920-733: Is the period's key work on republics, he also wrote the treatise The Prince , which is better remembered and more widely read, on how best to run a monarchy. The early modern writers did not see the republican model as universally applicable; most thought that it could be successful only in very small and highly urbanized city-states. Jean Bodin in Six Books of the Commonwealth (1576) identified monarchy with republic. Classical writers like Tacitus , and Renaissance writers like Machiavelli tried to avoid an outspoken preference for one government system or another. Enlightenment philosophers, on
3066-461: Is the weakness of Ireland..." They adopted three central positions: (i) to seek out a cordial union among all the people of Ireland, to maintain that balance essential to preserve liberties and extend commerce; (ii) that the sole constitutional mode by which English influence can be opposed, is by a complete and radical reform of the representation of the people in Parliament; (iii) that no reform
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#17327796723623212-999: The Boston Tea Party and dumped chests of tea owned by the British East India Company into Boston Harbor . London closed Boston Harbor and enacted a series of punitive laws , which effectively ended self-government in Massachusetts. In late 1774, 12 of the Thirteen Colonies (Georgia joined in 1775) sent delegates to the First Continental Congress in Philadelphia . It began coordinating Patriot resistance through underground networks of committees . In April 1775 British forces attempted to disarm local militias around Boston and engaged them . On June 14, 1775,
3358-595: The Commonwealth government responsible for the execution of King Charles I . After the Stuart Restoration of 1660, Massachusetts did not recognize Charles II as the legitimate king for more than a year after his coronation . In King Philip's War (1675–1678), the New England colonies fought a handful of Native American tribes without military assistance from England, thereby contributing to
3504-493: The Commonwealth of England in 1660 and the restoration of the monarchy under Charles II discredited republicanism among England's ruling circles. Nevertheless, they welcomed the liberalism , and emphasis on rights, of John Locke , which played a major role in the Glorious Revolution of 1688. Even so, republicanism flourished in the "country" party of the early 18th century ( commonwealthmen ), which denounced
3650-523: The Declaration of Independence , which was drafted largely by Thomas Jefferson and presented by the Committee of Five , which had been charged with its development. The Congress struck several provisions of Jefferson's draft, and then adopted it unanimously on July 4. The Declaration embodied the political philosophies of liberalism and republicanism , rejected monarchy and aristocracy , and famously proclaimed that " all men are created equal ". With
3796-523: The Dominion of New England . Edmund Andros was appointed royal governor and tasked with governing the new Dominion under his direct rule . Colonial assemblies and town meetings were restricted, new taxes were levied, and rights were abridged. Dominion rule triggered bitter resentment throughout New England. When James tried to rule without Parliament , the English aristocracy removed him from power in
3942-618: The Dutch Republic during and after the Eighty Years' War , which began in 1568. This anti-monarchism was more propaganda than a political philosophy; most of the anti-monarchist works appeared in the form of widely distributed pamphlets . This evolved into a systematic critique of monarchy, written by men such as the brothers Johan and Peter de la Court . They saw all monarchies as illegitimate tyrannies that were inherently corrupt. These authors were more concerned with preventing
4088-725: The Ferry Laws , which he intended to overturn the Falloux Laws by embracing the anti-clerical thinking of the Philosophes . These laws ended the Catholic Church's involvement in many government institutions in late 19th-century France, including schools. In recent years a debate has developed over the role of republicanism in the American Revolution and in the British radicalism of the 18th century. For many decades
4234-573: The Glorious Revolution of 1688. This was followed by the 1689 Boston revolt , which overthrew Dominion rule. Colonial governments reasserted their control after the revolt. The new monarchs, William and Mary , granted new charters to the individual New England colonies, and local democratic self-government was restored. After the Glorious Revolution, the British Empire was a constitutional monarchy with sovereignty in
4380-561: The Hat Act of 1732, and the Iron Act of 1750. Colonial reactions to these policies were mixed. The Molasses Act of 1733 placed a duty of six pence per gallon upon foreign molasses imported into the colonies. This act was particularly egregious to the New England colonists, who protested it as taxation without representation. The act increased the smuggling of foreign molasses, and the British government ceased enforcement efforts after
4526-623: The Hessian and British armies at Trenton and Princeton , thereby regaining control of most of New Jersey. The victories gave an important boost to Patriots at a time when morale was flagging, and they have become iconic events of the war. In September 1777, in anticipation of a coordinated attack by the British Army on the revolutionary capital of Philadelphia, the Continental Congress was forced to depart Philadelphia temporarily for Baltimore , where they continued deliberations. In 1777,
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4672-726: The King-in-Parliament . Aristocrats inherited seats in the House of Lords , while the gentry and merchants controlled the elected House of Commons . The king ruled through cabinet ministers who depended on majority support in the Commons to govern effectively. British subjects on both sides of the Atlantic proudly claimed the unwritten British constitution , with its guarantees of the rights of Englishmen , protected personal liberty better than any other government. It served as
4818-645: The Kingdom of Great Britain . Leaders of the American Revolution were colonial separatist leaders who originally sought more autonomy as British subjects, but later assembled to support the Revolutionary War, which ended British colonial rule over the colonies, establishing their independence as the United States of America in July 1776. Discontent with colonial rule began shortly after
4964-794: The Netherlands , Norway , Spain , Sweden , and the United Kingdom . It formerly had a presence in Belgium but the Belgian republican movement is no longer represented in AERM. The AERM protested against the wedding of British Prince William and Catherine Middleton on 29 April 2011 in London, and planned to meet each year thereafter. The AERM protested during the Coronation of King Charles . A video report on its Twitter channel about
5110-520: The Olive Branch Petition in which they attempted to come to an accord with King George. The king, however, issued a Proclamation of Rebellion which declared that the states were "in rebellion" and the members of Congress were traitors. The Battle of Bunker Hill followed on June 17, 1775. It was a British victory—but at a great cost: about 1,000 British casualties from a garrison of about 6,000, as compared to 500 American casualties from
5256-544: The Revolutionary War . During that time, the kingdoms of France and Spain entered as allies of the United States. The decisive victory came in the fall of 1781, when the combined American and French armies captured an entire British army in the Siege of Yorktown . The defeat led to the collapse of King George's control of Parliament, with a majority now in favor of ending the war on American terms. On September 3, 1783,
5402-664: The Royal Proclamation of 1763 , designating the territory between the Appalachian Mountains and the Mississippi River as an Indian Reserve closed to white settlement. The Proclamation failed to stop westward migration while angering settlers, fur traders, and land speculators in the Thirteen Colonies. George Grenville became prime minister in 1763, and "the need for money played a part in every important decision made by Grenville regarding
5548-655: The Second Continental Congress responded by authorizing formation of the Continental Army and appointing George Washington as its commander-in-chief. In August the king proclaimed Massachusetts to be in a state of open defiance and rebellion . The Continental Army surrounded Boston, and the British withdrew by sea in March 1776, leaving the Patriots in control in every colony. In July 1776,
5694-468: The Tea Act lowering the price of taxed tea exported to the colonies, to help the British East India Company undersell smuggled untaxed Dutch tea. Special consignees were appointed to sell the tea to bypass colonial merchants. The act was opposed by those who resisted the taxes and also by smugglers who stood to lose business. In every colony demonstrators warned merchants not to bring in tea that included
5840-543: The consent of the governed and the rule of law . The Thirteen Colonies were established in the 17th century as part of the English Empire , and they formed part of the British Empire after the union of England and Scotland in 1707. The development of a unique American identity can be traced to the English Civil War (1642–1651) and its aftermath. The Puritan colonies of New England supported
5986-432: The 1740s. On the other hand, certain merchants and local industries benefitted from the restrictions on foreign competition. The limits on foreign-built ships greatly benefitted the colonial shipbuilding industry, particularly in New England. Some argue that the economic impact was minimal on the colonists, but the political friction that the acts triggered was more serious, as the merchants most directly affected were also
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6132-470: The American Revolution (see Salutary neglect ) . During the French and Indian War (1754–1763), the British government fielded 45,000 soldiers, half British Regulars and half colonial volunteers. The colonies also contributed money to the war effort; however, two-fifths of this spending was reimbursed by the British government. Great Britain defeated France and acquired that nation's territory east of
6278-477: The Americans invaded northeastern Quebec under generals Benedict Arnold and Richard Montgomery , expecting to rally sympathetic colonists there. The attack was a failure; many Americans were killed, captured, or died of smallpox. In March 1776, aided by the fortification of Dorchester Heights with cannons recently captured at Fort Ticonderoga , the Continental Army led by George Washington forced
6424-672: The British Parliament's passage of the Townshend Acts . In an effort to quell the mounting rebellion, King George III deployed troops to Boston . A local confrontation resulted in the troops killing protesters in the Boston Massacre on March 5, 1770. In 1772, anti-tax demonstrators in Rhode Island destroyed the Royal Navy customs schooner Gaspee . On December 16, 1773, activists disguised as Indians instigated
6570-474: The British had significant advantages, including a highly trained army, the world's largest navy, and an efficient system of public finance that could easily fund the war. However, they seriously misunderstood the depth of support for the American Patriot position, misinterpreting the situation as merely a large-scale riot. The British government believed that they could overawe the Americans by sending
6716-686: The British out of Boston in the spring of 1776, and neither the British nor the Loyalists controlled any significant areas. The British, however, were amassing forces at their naval base at Halifax, Nova Scotia . They returned in force in July 1776, landing in New York and defeating Washington's Continental Army in August at the Battle of Brooklyn . This gave the British control of New York City and its strategic harbor . Following that victory, they requested
6862-399: The British sent Burgoyne's invasion force from Canada south to New York to seal off New England. Their aim was to isolate New England, which the British perceived as the primary source of agitation. Rather than move north to support Burgoyne, the British army in New York City went to Philadelphia in a major case of mis-coordination, capturing it from Washington. The invasion army under Burgoyne
7008-428: The British signed the Treaty of Paris giving the United States nearly all the territory east of the Mississippi River and south of the Great Lakes . About 60,000 Loyalists migrated to other British territories in Canada and elsewhere, but the great majority remained in the United States. With its victory in the American Revolution, the United States became the first constitutional republic in world history founded on
7154-403: The British to evacuate Boston . The revolutionaries now fully controlled all thirteen colonies and were ready to declare independence. There still were many Loyalists, but they were no longer in control anywhere by July 1776, and all of the Royal officials had fled. Following the Battle of Bunker Hill in June 1775, the Patriots had control of Massachusetts outside Boston 's city limits, and
7300-448: The British to deploy troops to Boston. A Boston town meeting declared that no obedience was due to parliamentary laws and called for the convening of a convention. A convention assembled but only issued a mild protest before dissolving itself. In January 1769, Parliament responded to the unrest by reactivating the Treason Act 1543 which called for subjects outside the realm to face trials for treason in England. The governor of Massachusetts
7446-505: The Dublin Society of the United Irishmen. The fall of the Bastille was to be celebrated in Belfast on 14 July 1791 by a Volunteer meeting. At the request of Thomas Russell , Tone drafted suitable resolutions for the occasion, including one favouring the inclusion of Catholics in any reforms. In a covering letter to Russell, Tone wrote, "I have not said one word that looks like a wish for separation, though I give it to you and your friends as my most decided opinion that such an event would be
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#17327796723627592-419: The English. Grenville believed that the colonies should help pay the troop costs. In 1764 Parliament passed the Sugar Act , decreasing the existing customs duties on sugar and molasses but providing stricter measures of enforcement and collection. That same year, Grenville proposed direct taxes on the colonies to raise revenue, but he delayed action to see whether the colonies would propose some way to raise
7738-421: The Enlightenment ideal of a written constitutional monarchy . But the perception grew that the monarchy had colluded with the invading power, a more radical group of reformers led by the Pasquale Paoli pushed for political overhaul, in the form of a constitutional and parliamentary republic inspired by the popular ideas of the Enlightenment. Its governing philosophy was both inspired by the prominent thinkers of
7884-422: The French monarchy in the 1790s, began by setting up a republic; Napoleon converted it into an Empire with a new aristocracy. In the 1830s Belgium adopted some of the innovations of the progressive political philosophers of the Enlightenment. Républicanisme is a French version of modern republicanism. It is a form of social contract , deduced from Jean-Jacques Rousseau 's idea of a general will . Each citizen
8030-401: The Greek concept of " politeia " was rendered into Latin as res publica. Consequently, political theory until relatively recently often used republic in the general sense of "regime". There is no single written expression or definition from this era that exactly corresponds with a modern understanding of the term "republic" but most of the essential features of the modern definition are present in
8176-425: The Irish, French and American causes. During the Enlightenment, anti- monarchism extended beyond the civic humanism of the Renaissance. Classical republicanism, still supported by philosophers such as Rousseau and Montesquieu , was only one of several theories seeking to limit the power of monarchies rather than directly opposing them. Liberalism and socialism departed from classical republicanism and fueled
8322-582: The Loyalists suddenly found themselves on the defensive with no protection from the British army. In each of the Thirteen Colonies, American patriots overthrew their existing governments, closed courts, and drove out British colonial officials. They held elected conventions and established their own legislatures , which existed outside any legal parameters established by the British. New constitutions were drawn up in each state to supersede royal charters. They proclaimed that they were now states , no longer colonies . On January 5, 1776, New Hampshire ratified
8468-418: The Mississippi River. In early 1763, the Bute ministry decided to permanently garrison 10,000 soldiers in North America. This would allow approximately 1,500 politically well-connected British Army officers to remain on active duty with full pay (stationing a standing army in Great Britain during peacetime was politically unacceptable). A standing army would provide defense against Native Americans in
8614-400: The Radicals of Great Britain and North America , where it was popularised via An Account of Corsica , by the Scottish essayist James Boswell . The Corsican Republic went on to influence the American revolutionaries ten years later: the Sons of Liberty , initiators of the American Revolution , would declare Pascal Paoli to be a direct inspiration for their own struggle against the British;
8760-486: The Renaissance, Europe was divided, such that those states controlled by a landed elite were monarchies, and those controlled by a commercial elite were republics. The latter included the Italian city-states of Florence , Genoa , and Venice and members of the Hanseatic League . One notable exception was Dithmarschen , a group of largely autonomous villages, which confederated in a peasants' republic. Building upon concepts of medieval feudalism , Renaissance scholars used
8906-417: The Revolution in France , and Thomas Paine's response, Rights of Man , in February 1791. Theobald Wolfe Tone wrote later that, "This controversy, and the gigantic event which gave rise to it, changed in an instant the politics of Ireland." Paine himself was aware of this commenting on sales of Part I of Rights of Man in November 1791, only eight months after publication of the first edition, he informed
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#17327796723629052-399: The Roman Republic as an ideal system because it included features like a systematic separation of powers . Romans still called their state "Res Publica" in the era of the early emperors because, on the surface, the organization of the state had been preserved by the first emperors without significant alteration. Several offices from the Republican era, held by individuals, were combined under
9198-399: The Roman Republic constituted in such a manner that it applied the strengths of each system to offset the weaknesses of the others. In his view, the mixed system of the Roman Republic provided the Romans with a much greater level of domestic tranquillity than would have been experienced under another form of government. Furthermore, Polybius argued, the comparative level of domestic tranquillity
9344-404: The Romans enjoyed allowed them to conquer the Mediterranean. Polybius exerted a great influence on Cicero as he wrote his politico-philosophical works in the 1st century BCE. In one of these works, De re publica , Cicero linked the Roman concept of res publica to the Greek politeia . The modern term "republic", despite its derivation, is not synonymous with the Roman res publica . Among
9490-450: The Second Continental Congress began to take on the role of governing a new nation . It passed the Lee Resolution for national independence on July 2, and on July 4, 1776, adopted the Declaration of Independence , which embodied the political philosophies of liberalism and republicanism , rejected monarchy and aristocracy , and famously proclaimed that " all men are created equal ". The fighting continued for five years, now known as
9636-503: The Virginia legislature to propose independence, and he did so on June 7, 1776. On June 11, a committee was created by the Second Continental Congress to draft a document explaining the justifications for separation from Britain. After securing enough votes for passage, independence was voted for on July 2. Gathered at Pennsylvania State House in Philadelphia , 56 of the nation's Founding Fathers , representing America's Thirteen Colonies , unanimously adopted and issued to King George III
9782-478: The appearance of Indigenous people, boarded the ships of the East India Company and dumped £10,000 worth of tea from their holds (approximately £636,000 in 2008) into Boston Harbor . Decades later, this event became known as the Boston Tea Party and remains a significant part of American patriotic lore. The British government responded by passing four laws that came to be known as the Intolerable Acts , further darkening colonial opinion towards England. The first
9928-440: The argument that the American founding fathers were more influenced by republicanism than they were by liberalism. Cornell University professor Isaac Kramnick , on the other hand, argues that Americans have always been highly individualistic and therefore Lockean. Joyce Appleby has argued similarly for the Lockean influence on America. In the decades before the American Revolution (1776), the intellectual and political leaders of
10074-414: The arrest of protest organisers gathered millions of views and the interest of international media. Republicanism Republicanism is a political ideology that encompasses a range of ideas from civic virtue , political participation , harms of corruption , positives of mixed constitution , rule of law , and others. Historically, it emphasizes the idea of self-governance and ranges from
10220-411: The city their main political and military base of operations, holding it until November 1783 . The city became the destination for Loyalist refugees and a focal point of Washington's intelligence network . The British also took New Jersey, pushing the Continental Army into Pennsylvania. Washington crossed the Delaware River back into New Jersey in a surprise attack in late December 1776 and defeated
10366-434: The colonies "in all cases whatsoever". The repeal nonetheless caused widespread celebrations in the colonies. In 1767, the British Parliament passed the Townshend Acts , which placed duties on several staple goods, including paper, glass, and tea, and established a Board of Customs in Boston to more rigorously execute trade regulations. Parliament's goal was not so much to collect revenue but to assert its authority over
10512-516: The colonies exported agricultural products to Britain in return for manufactured goods. They also imported molasses, rum, and sugar from the British West Indies . The British government pursued a policy of mercantilism in order to grow its economic and political power. According to mercantilism, the colonies existed for the mother country's economic benefit, and the colonists' economic needs took second place. In 1651, Parliament passed
10658-519: The colonies studied history intently, looking for models of good government. They especially followed the development of republican ideas in England. Pocock explained the intellectual sources in America: The Whig canon and the neo-Harringtonians, John Milton , James Harrington and Sidney , Trenchard , Gordon and Bolingbroke , together with the Greek, Roman, and Renaissance masters of
10804-622: The colonies were legally British corporations subordinate to the British Parliament. Parliament insisted that the colonists effectively enjoyed a " virtual representation ", as most British people did, since only a small minority of the British population were eligible to elect representatives to Parliament. However, Americans such as James Otis maintained that there was no one in Parliament responsible specifically to any colonial constituency, so they were not "virtually represented" by anyone in Parliament. The Rockingham government came to power in July 1765, and Parliament debated whether to repeal
10950-541: The colonies, acknowledged that he leaked the letters, which led to him being removed from his position. In Boston, Samuel Adams set about creating new Committees of Correspondence , which linked Patriots in all 13 colonies and eventually provided the framework for a rebel government. Virginia, the largest colony, set up its Committee of Correspondence in early 1773, on which Patrick Henry and Thomas Jefferson served. A total of about 7,000 to 8,000 Patriots served on these Committees; Loyalists were excluded. The committees became
11096-555: The colonies. The new taxes were enacted on the belief that Americans only objected to internal taxes and not to external taxes such as custom duties. However, in his widely read pamphlet, Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania , John Dickinson argued against the constitutionality of the acts because their purpose was to raise revenue and not to regulate trade. Colonists responded to the taxes by organizing new boycotts of British goods. These boycotts were less effective, however, as
11242-469: The colonies—and for that matter by the ministries that followed up to 1776." The national debt had grown to £133 million with annual debt payments of £5 million (out of an £8 million annual budget). Stationing troops in North America on a permanent basis would cost another £360,000 a year. On a per capita basis, Americans only paid 1 shilling in taxes to the empire compared to 26 shillings paid by
11388-466: The conditions necessary for a functional popular sovereignty, that " There is still one European country capable of making its own laws: the island of Corsica. valour and persistency with which that brave people has regained and defended its liberty well deserves that some wise man should teach it how to preserve what it has won. I have a feeling that some day that little island will astonish Europe ."; indeed Rousseau volunteered to do precisely that, offering
11534-509: The consensus was that liberalism , especially that of John Locke , was paramount and that republicanism had a distinctly secondary role. The new interpretations were pioneered by J.G.A. Pocock , who argued in The Machiavellian Moment (1975) that, at least in the early 18th century, republican ideas were just as important as liberal ones. Pocock's view is now widely accepted. Bernard Bailyn and Gordon Wood pioneered
11680-509: The constraints of one nation. As Christopher N. Warren argues, Milton offers "a language to critique imperialism, to question the legitimacy of dictators, to defend free international discourse, to fight unjust property relations, and to forge new political bonds across national lines." This form of international Miltonic republicanism has been influential on later thinkers including 19th-century radicals Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels , according to Warren and other historians. The collapse of
11826-522: The control of a single person. These changes became permanent, and gradually conferred sovereignty on the Emperor. Cicero's description of the ideal state, in De re Publica , does not equate to a modern-day "republic"; it is more like enlightened absolutism . His philosophical works were influential when Enlightenment philosophers such as Voltaire developed their political concepts. In its classical meaning,
11972-477: The corruption of the "court" party, producing a political theory that heavily influenced the American colonists. In general, the English ruling classes of the 18th century vehemently opposed republicanism, typified by the attacks on John Wilkes , and especially on the American Revolution and the French Revolution . French and Swiss Enlightenment thinkers, such as Voltaire , Baron Charles de Montesquieu and later Jean-Jacques Rousseau , expanded upon and altered
12118-412: The crowd. They hit 11 people; three civilians died of wounds at the scene of the shooting, and two died shortly after. The event quickly came to be called the Boston Massacre . The soldiers were tried and acquitted (defended by John Adams ), but the widespread descriptions soon began to turn colonial sentiment against the British. This accelerated the downward spiral in the relationship between Britain and
12264-534: The day, notably the French philosophers Montesquieu and Voltaire and the Swiss theorist Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Not only did it include a permanent national parliament with fixed-term legislatures and regular elections, but, more radically for the time, it introduced universal male suffrage , and it is thought to be the first constitution in the world to grant women the right to vote, female suffrage did exist for heads of
12410-637: The defeat of France in the French and Indian War in 1763. Although the colonies had fought and supported the war, Parliament imposed new taxes to compensate for wartime costs and turned control of the colonies' western lands over to the British officials in Montreal . Representatives from several colonies convened the Stamp Act Congress ; its "Declaration of Rights and Grievances" argued that taxation without representation violated their rights as Englishmen . In 1767, tensions flared again following
12556-519: The defects that affected them. Both Livy , a Roman historian, and Plutarch , who is noted for his biographies and moral essays, described how Rome had developed its legislation, notably the transition from a kingdom to a republic , by following the example of the Greeks. Some of this history, composed more than 500 years after the events, with scant written sources to rely on, may be fictitious reconstruction. The Greek historian Polybius , writing in
12702-490: The democratic ideals of the modern world. An important distinction is that, while republicanism stressed the importance of civic virtue and the common good , liberalism was based on economics and individualism . It is clearest in the matter of private property, which, according to some, can be maintained only under the protection of established positive law . Jules Ferry , Prime Minister of France from 1880 to 1885, followed both these schools of thought. He eventually enacted
12848-550: The development of a uniquely American identity separate from that of the British people . In the 1680s, Charles and his brother, James II , attempted to bring New England under direct English control. The colonists fiercely opposed this, and the Crown nullified their colonial charters in response. In 1686, James finalized these efforts by consolidating the separate New England colonies along with New York and New Jersey into
12994-525: The development of the more modern republicanism . Brazilian historiography generally identifies republican thought with the movement that was formally organized in the Empire of Brazil during the 1870s to 1880s, but republicanism was already present in the country since the First Reign (1822–1831) and the regency period (1831–1840). During Brazil's early years after its independence , the country saw
13140-409: The direct payment of colonial officials, which had been paid by local authorities. This would have reduced the influence of colonial representatives over their government. The letters' contents were used as evidence of a systematic plot against American rights, and discredited Hutchinson in the eyes of the people; the colonial Assembly petitioned for his recall. Benjamin Franklin, postmaster general for
13286-477: The emergence of a republican discourse among the writings of figures such as Cipriano Barata , Frei Caneca and João Soares Lisboa, but republican ideology better developed as a political current after the emergence of the so-called radical liberal faction in the crisis of the final years of the First Reign. During the First Reign, three groups emerged on the country's political scene: the moderate liberals,
13432-579: The episode resonated across Europe as an early example of Enlightened constitutional republicanism, with many of the most prominent political commentators of the day recognising it to be an experiment in a new type of popular and democratic government. Its influence was particularly notable among the French Enlightenment philosophers: Rousseau's famous work On the Social Contract (1762: chapter 10, book II) declared, in its discussion on
13578-462: The family. It also extended Enlightened principles to other spheres, including administrative reform, the foundation of a national university at Corte , and the establishment of a popular standing army . The Corsican Republic lasted for fifteen years, from 1755 to 1769, eventually falling to a combination of Genoese and French forces and was incorporated as a province of the Kingdom of France. But
13724-467: The fashionable new ideas of the age. From the 1720s the island had been experiencing a series of short-lived but ongoing rebellions against its current sovereign, the Italian city-state of Genoa . During the initial period (1729–36) these merely sought to restore the control of the Spanish Empire; when this proved impossible, an independent Kingdom of Corsica (1736–40) was proclaimed, following
13870-463: The first in a series of Navigation Acts , which restricted colonial trade with foreign countries. The Thirteen Colonies could trade with the rest of the empire but only ship certain commodities like tobacco to Britain. Any European imports bound for British America had to first pass through an English port and pay customs duties. Other laws regulated colonial industries, such as the Wool Act of 1699 ,
14016-529: The first state constitution. In May 1776, Congress voted to suppress all forms of crown authority, to be replaced by locally created authority. New Jersey , South Carolina , and Virginia created their constitutions before July 4. Rhode Island and Connecticut simply took their existing royal charters and deleted all references to the crown. The new states were all committed to republicanism, with no inherited offices. On May 26, 1776, John Adams wrote James Sullivan from Philadelphia warning against extending
14162-750: The franchise too far: Depend upon it, sir, it is dangerous to open so fruitful a source of controversy and altercation, as would be opened by attempting to alter the qualifications of voters. There will be no end of it. New claims will arise. Women will demand a vote. Lads from twelve to twenty one will think their rights not enough attended to, and every man, who has not a farthing, will demand an equal voice with any other in all acts of state. It tends to confound and destroy all distinctions, and prostrate all ranks, to one common level[.] The resulting constitutions in states, including those of Delaware , Maryland , Massachusetts , New York , and Virginia featured: In Pennsylvania , New Jersey , and New Hampshire ,
14308-642: The goods taxed by the Townshend Acts were widely used. In February 1768, the Assembly of Massachusetts Bay Colony issued a circular letter to the other colonies urging them to coordinate resistance. The governor dissolved the assembly when it refused to rescind the letter. Meanwhile, a riot broke out in Boston in June 1768 over the seizure of the sloop Liberty , owned by John Hancock , for alleged smuggling. Customs officials were forced to flee, prompting
14454-417: The hated new tax. In most instances, the consignees were forced by the Americans to resign and the tea was turned back, but Massachusetts governor Hutchinson refused to allow Boston merchants to give in to pressure. A town meeting in Boston determined that the tea would not be landed, and ignored a demand from the governor to disperse. On December 16, 1773, a group of men, led by Samuel Adams and dressed to evoke
14600-471: The idea emerged that power should come from below.... These two principles are like two opposite poles, and it is the conflict between them that determines the course of the modern world. In Europe the conflict between them had not yet taken on concrete form; with the French Revolution it did. Republicanism, especially that of Rousseau , played a central role in the French Revolution and foreshadowed modern republicanism. The revolutionaries, after overthrowing
14746-484: The ideal of the militia), established churches (opposed to the Puritan and deist modes of American religion) and the promotion of a monied interest – though the formulation of this last concept was somewhat hindered by the keen desire for readily available paper credit common in colonies of settlement. A neoclassical politics provided both the ethos of the elites and the rhetoric of the upwardly mobile, and accounts for
14892-489: The ideas of the ancient world to advance their view of an ideal government. Thus the republicanism developed during the Renaissance is known as 'classical republicanism' because it relied on classical models. This terminology was developed by Zera Fink in the 1940s, but some modern scholars, such as Brugger, consider it confuses the "classical republic" with the system of government used in the ancient world. 'Early modern republicanism' has been proposed as an alternative term. It
15038-574: The ideas of what an ideal republic should be: some of their new ideas were scarcely traceable to antiquity or the Renaissance thinkers. Concepts they contributed, or heavily elaborated, were social contract , positive law , and mixed government . They also borrowed from, and distinguished republicanism from, the ideas of liberalism that were developing at the same time. Liberalism and republicanism were frequently conflated during this period, because they both opposed absolute monarchy. Modern scholars see them as two distinct streams that both contributed to
15184-441: The interests of the nation. Now the idea spread that the nation should govern itself. But only after a state had actually been formed on the basis of the theory of representation did the full significance of this idea become clear. All later revolutionary movements have this same goal... This was the complete reversal of a principle. Until then, a king who ruled by the grace of God had been the center around which everything turned. Now
15330-463: The introduction to his famous A Defense of the Constitutions of Government of the United States of America , the "science of politics is the science of social happiness" and a republic is the form of government arrived at when the science of politics is appropriately applied to the creation of a rationally designed government. Rather than being ideological, this approach focuses on applying
15476-526: The islands becoming republics, particularly Bermuda . Julien Fédon and Joachim Philip led the republican Fédon's rebellion between 2 March 1795 and 19 June 1796, an uprising against British rule in Grenada . The first of the Enlightenment republics established in Europe during the 18th century occurred in the small Mediterranean island of Corsica . Although perhaps an unlikely place to act as
15622-594: The issuance of the Declaration of Independence, each colony began operating as independent and sovereign states. The next step was to form a union to facilitate international relations and alliances. On November 5, 1777, the Congress approved the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union and sent it to each state for ratification. The Congress immediately began operating under the Articles' terms, providing
15768-413: The leaders of the American resistance to British actions, and later largely determined the war effort at the state and local level. When the First Continental Congress decided to boycott British products, the colonial and local Committees took charge, examining merchant records and publishing the names of merchants who attempted to defy the boycott by importing British goods. Meanwhile, Parliament passed
15914-705: The mid-2nd century BCE, emphasized (in Book 6) the role played by the Roman Republic as an institutional form in the dramatic rise of Rome's hegemony over the Mediterranean. In his writing on the constitution of the Roman Republic, Polybius described the system as being a "mixed" form of government. Specifically, Polybius described the Roman system as a mixture of monarchy, aristocracy, and democracy with
16060-463: The model for colonial governments . The Crown appointed a royal governor to exercise executive power. Property owners elected a colonial assembly with powers to legislate and levy taxes, but the British government reserved the right to veto colonial legislation. Radical Whig ideology profoundly influenced American political philosophy with its love of liberty and opposition to tyrannical government. With little industry except shipbuilding,
16206-489: The most politically active. The British government lacked the resources and information needed to control the colonies. Instead, British officials negotiated and compromised with colonial leaders to gain compliance with imperial policies. The colonies defended themselves with colonial militias , and the British government rarely sent military forces to America before 1755. According to historian Robert Middlekauff , "Americans had become almost completely self-governing" before
16352-540: The other hand, expressed a clear opinion. Thomas More , writing before the Age of Enlightenment, was too outspoken for the reigning king's taste, even though he coded his political preferences in a utopian allegory. In England a type of republicanism evolved that was not wholly opposed to monarchy; thinkers such as Thomas More, John Fisher and Sir Thomas Smith saw a monarchy, firmly constrained by law, as compatible with republicanism. Anti- monarchism became more strident in
16498-519: The political spectrum, along Jacobin lines, and defended broad reforms such as the abolition of the monarchy and the establishment of a republic, federalism, the extinction of the Moderating Power , the end of life tenure in the Senate , the separation between Church and State, relative social equality, the extension of political and civil rights to all free segments of society, including women,
16644-556: The position of Stadholder from evolving into a monarchy, than with attacking their former rulers. Dutch republicanism also influenced French Huguenots during the Wars of Religion . In the other states of early modern Europe republicanism was more moderate. In the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth , republicanism was the influential ideology. After the establishment of the Commonwealth of Two Nations, republicans supported
16790-460: The province of Massachusetts. A new ministry under Lord North came to power in 1770, and Parliament repealed most of the Townshend duties, except the tax on tea. This temporarily resolved the crisis, and the boycott of British goods largely ceased, with only the more radical patriots such as Samuel Adams continuing to agitate. In June 1772, American patriots, including John Brown , burned
16936-461: The radical liberals and the caramurus . The moderates defended political-institutional reforms such as decentralization, without, however, giving up the monarchical system. Their main doctrinal references were Locke, Montesquieu, Guizot and Benjamin Constant . The radicals, in turn, formed a heterogeneous group with almost no representation within the imperial bureaucracy. They were on the left of
17082-593: The rebels' weapons and arrest their leaders, leading to the Battles of Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775. The Patriots assembled a militia 15,000 strong and laid siege to Boston, occupied by 6500 British soldiers. The Second Continental Congress convened in Philadelphia on June 14, 1775. The congress was divided on the best course of action. They authorized formation of the Continental Army and appointed George Washington as its commander-in-chief, and produced
17228-426: The republican form of government. While in his theoretical works he defended monarchy, or at least a mixed monarchy/oligarchy, in his own political life, he generally opposed men, like Julius Caesar , Mark Antony , and Octavian , who were trying to realise such ideals. Eventually, that opposition led to his death and Cicero can be seen as a victim of his own Republican ideals. Tacitus , a contemporary of Plutarch,
17374-445: The resulting constitutions embodied: The radical provisions of Pennsylvania 's constitution lasted 14 years. In 1790, conservatives gained power in the state legislature, called a new constitutional convention, and rewrote the constitution. The new constitution substantially reduced universal male suffrage, gave the governor veto power and patronage appointment authority, and added an upper house with substantial wealth qualifications to
17520-540: The revenue themselves. Parliament passed the Stamp Act in March 1765, which imposed direct taxes on the colonies for the first time. All official documents, newspapers, almanacs, and pamphlets were required to have the stamps—even decks of playing cards. The colonists did not object that the taxes were high; they were actually low. They objected to their lack of representation in the Parliament, which gave them no voice concerning legislation that affected them, such as
17666-485: The rule of a representative minority or aristocracy to popular sovereignty . It has had different definitions and interpretations which vary significantly based on historical context and methodological approach. Republicanism may also refer to the non-ideological scientific approach to politics and governance. As the republican thinker and second president of the United States John Adams stated in
17812-449: The rulers, there can be no civic peace or happiness. A number of Ancient Greek city-states such as Athens and Sparta have been classified as " classical republics ", because they featured extensive participation by the citizens in legislation and political decision-making. Aristotle considered Carthage to have been a republic as it had a political system similar to that of some of the Greek cities, notably Sparta, but avoided some of
17958-509: The several meanings of the term res publica , it is most often translated "republic" where the Latin expression refers to the Roman state, and its form of government, between the era of the Kings and the era of the Emperors. This Roman Republic would, by a modern understanding of the word, still be defined as a true republic, even if not coinciding entirely. Thus, Enlightenment philosophers saw
18104-480: The singular cultural and intellectual homogeneity of the Founding Fathers and their generation. The commitment of most Americans to these republican values made the American Revolution inevitable. Britain was increasingly seen as corrupt and hostile to republicanism, and as a threat to the established liberties the Americans enjoyed. Leopold von Ranke in 1848 claimed that American republicanism played
18250-703: The son of Ebenezer Mackintosh was named Pascal Paoli Mackintosh in his honour, and no fewer than five American counties are named Paoli for the same reason. Oliver Cromwell set up a Christian republic called the Commonwealth of England (1649–1660) which he ruled after the overthrow of King Charles I . James Harrington was then a leading philosopher of republicanism. John Milton was another important Republican thinker at this time, expressing his views in political tracts as well as through poetry and prose. In his epic poem Paradise Lost , for instance, Milton uses Satan's fall to suggest that unfit monarchs should be brought to justice, and that such issues extend beyond
18396-535: The stamp tax or to send an army to enforce it. Benjamin Franklin appeared before them to make the case for repeal, explaining that the colonies had spent heavily in manpower, money, and blood defending the empire, and that further taxes to pay for those wars were unjust and might bring about a rebellion. Parliament agreed and repealed the tax on February 21, 1766, but they insisted in the Declaratory Act of March 1766 that they retained full power to make laws for
18542-561: The start of the Imperial form of government in Rome). By this time, too many principles defining some powers as "untouchable" had been implemented. In Europe, republicanism was revived in the late Middle Ages when a number of states, which arose from medieval communes , embraced a republican system of government. These were generally small but wealthy trading states in which the merchant class had risen to prominence. Haakonssen notes that by
18688-531: The state, freeing it from civil wars and disorder. Tacitus was one of the first to ask whether such powers were given to the head of state because the citizens wanted to give them, or whether they were given for other reasons (for example, because one had a deified ancestor ). The latter case led more easily to abuses of power. In Tacitus' opinion, the trend away from a true republic was irreversible only when Tiberius established power, shortly after Augustus' death in 14 CE (much later than most historians place
18834-494: The status quo, of having a very weak monarch, and opposed those who thought a stronger monarchy was needed. These mostly Polish republicans, such as Łukasz Górnicki , Andrzej Wolan , and Stanisław Konarski , were well read in classical and Renaissance texts and firmly believed that their state was a republic on the Roman model, and started to call their state the Rzeczpospolita . Atypically, Polish–Lithuanian republicanism
18980-539: The staunch opposition to slavery , displaying a nationalist , xenophobic and anti-Portuguese discourse. In 1870 a group of radical liberals, convinced of the impossibility of achieving their desired reforms within the Brazilian monarchical system, met and founded the Republican Party. From its founding until 1889, the party operated in an erratic and geographically diverse manner. The republican movement
19126-482: The system of government that emerged in the 6th century BCE following the expulsion of the kings from Rome by Lucius Junius Brutus and Collatinus . This form of government in the Roman state collapsed in the latter part of the 1st century BCE, giving way to what was a monarchy in form, if not in name. Republics recurred subsequently, with, for example, Renaissance Florence or early modern Britain . The concept of
19272-557: The tax, violating the unwritten English constitution . This grievance was summarized in the slogan "No taxation without representation". Shortly following adoption of the Stamp Act, the Sons of Liberty formed, and began using public demonstrations, boycotts, and threats of violence to ensure that the British tax laws became unenforceable. In Boston , the Sons of Liberty burned the records of
19418-464: The tradition as far as Montesquieu , formed the authoritative literature of this culture; and its values and concepts were those with which we have grown familiar: a civic and patriot ideal in which the personality was founded in property, perfected in citizenship but perpetually threatened by corruption; government figuring paradoxically as the principal source of corruption and operating through such means as patronage, faction, standing armies (opposed to
19564-557: The unicameral legislature. Thomas Paine called it a constitution unworthy of America. In April 1776, the North Carolina Provincial Congress issued the Halifax Resolves explicitly authorizing its delegates to vote for independence. By June, nine Provincial Congresses were ready for independence; Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, and New York followed. Richard Henry Lee was instructed by
19710-575: The vice admiralty court and looted the home of chief justice Thomas Hutchinson . Several legislatures called for united action, and nine colonies sent delegates to the Stamp Act Congress in New York City in October. Moderates led by John Dickinson drew up a Declaration of Rights and Grievances stating that the colonists were equal to all other British citizens and that taxes passed without representation violated their rights as Englishmen , and Congress emphasized their determination by organizing
19856-617: The west and foreign populations in newly acquired territories (the French in Canada and the Spanish in Florida ). In addition, British soldiers could prevent white colonists from instigating conflict with Native Americans and help collect customs duties. Migration beyond the Appalachian Mountains increased after the French threat was removed, and Native Americans launched Pontiac's War (1763–1766) in response. The Grenville ministry issued
20002-487: The works of Plato , Aristotle and Polybius . These include theories of mixed government and of civic virtue . For example, in The Republic , Plato places great emphasis on the importance of civic virtue (aiming for the good) together with personal virtue ('just man') on the part of the ideal rulers. Indeed, in Book V, Plato asserts that until rulers have the nature of philosophers (Socrates) or philosophers become
20148-601: Was an uprising against British rule in Ireland lasting from May to September 1798 – the Irish Rebellion of 1798 – with military support from revolutionary France in August and again October 1798. After the failure of the rising of 1798 the United Irishman, John Daly Burk, an émigré in the United States in his The History of the Late War in Ireland written in 1799, was most emphatic in its identification of
20294-495: Was enforced by new local committees authorized by the Congress. It also began coordinating Patriot resistance by militias which existed in every colony and which had gained military experience in the French and Indian War. For the first time, the Patriots were armed and unified against Parliament. King George declared Massachusetts to be in a state of rebellion in February 1775 and the British garrison received orders to seize
20440-530: Was founded in 1791 in Belfast and Dublin. The inaugural meeting of the United Irishmen in Belfast on 18 October 1791 approved a declaration of the society's objectives. It identified the central grievance that Ireland had no national government: "...we are ruled by Englishmen, and the servants of Englishmen, whose object is the interest of another country, whose instrument is corruption, and whose strength
20586-401: Was instructed to collect evidence of said treason, and the threat caused widespread outrage, though it was not carried out. On March 5, 1770, a large crowd gathered around a group of British soldiers on a Boston street. The crowd grew threatening, throwing snowballs, rocks, and debris at them. One soldier was clubbed and fell. There was no order to fire, but the soldiers panicked and fired into
20732-458: Was not concerned with whether a form of government could be analysed as a "republic" or a "monarchy". He analysed how the powers accumulated by the early Julio-Claudian dynasty were all given by a State that was still notionally a republic. Nor was the Roman Republic "forced" to give away these powers: it did so freely and reasonably, certainly in Augustus ' case, because of his many services to
20878-474: Was not the ideology of the commercial class, but rather of the landed nobility, which would lose power if the monarchy were expanded. This resulted in an oligarchy of the great landed magnates. Victor Hugues , Jean-Baptiste Raymond de Lacrosse and Nicolas Xavier de Ricard were prominent supporters of republicanism for various Caribbean islands. Edwin Sandys , William Sayle and George Tucker all supported
21024-783: Was strongest in the Court and in São Paulo , but other smaller foci also emerged in Minas Gerais , Pará , Pernambuco and Rio Grande do Sul . Only in São Paulo, however, did the movement become a true organized and disciplined party capable of electoral competition. American Revolution The American Revolution was a rebellion and political movement in the Thirteen Colonies which peaked when colonists initiated an ultimately successful war for independence against
21170-702: Was the Massachusetts Government Act which altered the Massachusetts charter and restricted town meetings. The second was the Administration of Justice Act which ordered that all British soldiers to be tried were to be arraigned in Britain, not in the colonies. The third was the Boston Port Act , which closed the port of Boston until the British had been compensated for the tea lost in the Boston Tea Party. The fourth
21316-677: Was the Quartering Act of 1774 , which allowed royal governors to house British troops in the homes of citizens without permission of the owner. In response, Massachusetts patriots issued the Suffolk Resolves and formed an alternative shadow government known as the Provincial Congress, which began training militia outside British-occupied Boston. In September 1774, the First Continental Congress convened, consisting of representatives from each colony, to serve as
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