Republicanism in the United States


Republicanism in the United States is a set of ideas that guides the government and politics. These ideas have shaped the government, and the way people in the United States think about politics, since the American Revolution.[1]

The American Revolution, the Declaration of Independence (1776), the Constitution (1787), and even the Gettysburg Address (1863) were based on ideas from American republicanism.[2]

"Republicanism" comes from the word "republic." However, they are not the same thing. A republic is a type of government (one where the people can choose their leaders). Republicanism is an ideology – set of beliefs that people in a republic have about what is most important to them.[3]

  1. Shalhope, Robert E. (January 1972). "Toward a Republican Synthesis: The Emergence of an Understanding of Republicanism in American Historiography". William and Mary Quarterly. 29 (1): 49–80. doi:10.2307/1921327. JSTOR 1921327. Retrieved March 20, 2016.
  2. Wood, Gordon S. (1991). The Radicalism of the American Revolution (1st ed.). New York, New York: Vintage Books. ISBN 0679736883.
  3. Hart, Gary (2002). "The Republic for Which it Stands." In Restoration of the Republic: The Jeffersonian Ideal in 21st-Century America. Oxford University Press. pp. 3-24. ISBN 978-0195348194.

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