Ms. Diane Nicoll 8th Grade History Unit 1: Lesson 4 

American Republicanism
Name: Jacob Withop

Date: 9/12/17

Class: 8th Grade - U.S. History

 
Slides and Notes 
Slide Student Notes

American Republicanism
Title 
Unit 1: Lesson 4

Describe the nation's blend of civic republicanism,

Goal  classical liberal principles, and English Parliamentary
Traditions

Benjamin Franklin decided the government should be

a republic, but he is worried that something for the
Benjamin Franklin 
people and by the people, won’t work, and it may
collapse because they won't agree.

“Before the war, Americans were ​angry​ that they did

not have the same rights as english citizens” Then
they wanted to form their own government, so they
Background  started with a republic. This is a form of self
Information  government of the people. (Btw republic and direct
democracy are different - direct democracy is having
people directly choose, while republic is having people
vote to representatives, who have the direct vote)

Was created in classical greece, around 500-300 BCE.

They used a direct democracy then. For it to work,
they would have to place the good of the community
Civic Republicanism  above themselves. Plus, the citizens must be well
informed, participating in politics, and willing to
fight for country.
Civic - Public, Republicanism - Representatives.

Stresses representative democracy, instead of

individual. This way, people elect a representative
who shares their interests. This style tries to protect
Classical Liberalism 
their minorities and limit government powers, unlike
with a big government, which wouldn’t care about the
citizens. These important rights included free speech,
 
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Ms. Diane Nicoll 8th Grade History Unit 1: Lesson 4 

press, elections, and association. This is to make sure

the government is “accountable to the public.”

They actually liked some of the british government

traditions. These included:
● They had two chambers/governing bodies
English  ● They had representatives (the republic style)
Parliamentary  ● “The house of lords was made up of non-elected
Traditions  judges, nobles, and church officials”
Parlament pretty much provided a model for the
colonies representative government, and it is very
similar to the legislative branch.

These two houses of the legislative branch were the

House of Representatives, and the Senate. These are
all a part of the Legislative branch, and then there is
United States of 
also the Executive branch, the president blah blah and
America: A New 
the Judiciary with the supreme court. The Legislative
Style 
branch makes laws, the executive branch signs, or
vetoes the laws. Then the Judicial branch Interprets
laws, and decides what they mean.
 

 
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