18th Century Republicanism

What do you think about when you hear Republican? If the first thing that comes to your mind is Sarah Palin then you probably aren’t thinking about the Republicanism of the eighteenth century. The Republican Party today is much different than the Republicanism of the Founding Fathers. The “Republicans” of the eighteenth century weren’t concerned with social issues such as gay marriage and the war on drugs as modern day Republicans are. Instead, they were fighting for freedom from the British who had become increasingly oppressive since the end of the French and Indian war. With increasing taxes, no representation, and more British troops entering the colonies, the Founding Fathers had no choice but to create an ideology to fight the corruption

Even Robert Kelly once said, “Republicanism was the distinctive political consciousness of the entire Revolutionary generation.”

When exploring the history of the United States and the American Revolution, it is impossible to not come across Republicanism. Republicanism is defined as the political value system that emphasizes personal rights and liberties, makes people a sovereign whole, denies inherited political power, and is strongly against corruption. John Adams defined it as, “a government, in which all men, rich and poor, magistrates and subjects, officers and people, masters and servants, the first citizen and the last, are equally subject to the laws.” The Founding Fathers were responsible for the formation of the American version of Republicanism in the 18th century. The Founding Fathers strongly supported republican values, especially Samuel Adams, Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, Thomas Paine, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson. During the 1760’s and 1770’s, these men studied the history of various governments and how effective they were. Their main focus was on the history of England, primarily the

Both of these documents were greatly influenced by the Enlightenment period. Thomas Paine was one of the most important men in American history. John Adams once said, “Without the pen of Paine, the sword of Washington would have been wielded in vain.” Paine wrote Common Sense to argue for freedom from England and to inspire the colonists to revolt against the British. He describes that it is common sense that they break free and gives reasons such as the unreasonable taxes the British put on things that didn’t need taxes. He also uses enlightened thought to discredit the King’s god given right to be in rule. The Declaration of Independence came not long after and was greatly influenced by Paine’s Common Sense and enlightenment thinking. Because Paine’s Common Sense was written about why the colonists should break free from the British, it was basically a segue into the Declaration of Independence. The Declaration of Independence contains ideas of equality (“All men are created equal”), protecting natural rights (Life, liberty, pursuit of happiness), and getting rid of tyranny (breaking bonds with England), all of which were enlightenment ideas. These documents fueled the Republican fire even further and officially started the American Revolution against the