¶ … Birth of a Republic 1763-89: The Chicago History of American Civilization (Revised Edition) by Edmund S. Morgan. The University of Chicago Press, 1977, 202 pp. Edited by: Daniel J. Boorstin.
The delayed results of the Presidential elections of 2000 also known as the "Florida Fiasco" raised several questions. Two among them: What were the differences between a democracy and republic? Which of the two (democracy or republic) was the United States of America? Cries of "the will of the people" being denied were heard loud and often. Some pundits suggested that since Mr. Gore had won the popular vote, the constitution might be amended to accommodate the "democratic aspect" of the government. Fortunately (and not for political reasons) the sanctity of the constitution was preserved.
Edmund Morgan, Professor Emeritus at Yale University, had already answered all the above questions in his eminently readable "The Birth of a Republic." The book traces the chronological history of the United States. The author concentrates on: the events leading to the American War of Independence, the achievement of freedom, and then, perhaps the more difficult part, establishing a nation with specific rules of governance -- the establishment of a republic complete with a written constitution (differing from Great Britain, which has an unwritten constitution).
To understand why the creation of a republic was the next logical step after independence, it is necessary to visit the definitions of what constitutes a democracy vs. A republic. A democracy is the government of the masses. In a republic, authority is derived through the election of public officials that are best fitted to represent them.
The book does not begin at the landing at Plymouth Rock, Massachusetts. But rather, from a rather insignificant skirmish of seemingly no consequence -- a fight between a fit and disciplined battalion of the British Army and a rag-tag group of barely armed colonists at the Battle of Lexington. It begins at the point...
Morgan, Edmund S., Joseph Birth of the Republic, which was written by the late professor Edmund Morgan, is extremely ambitious in scope. Its purpose is to recount the history of the initial founding of the United States -- which was originally envisioned as a republic. As such, the author covers the approximate 25-year period that began with the end of the French and Indian War and which ended with the
The dozen years prior to the Constitutional Convention was a period in which the "rich and wellborn" exerted considerable influence. These people consisted of merchants, bankers, and big landowners, and they had the power to make themselves heard and thus to press for their particular view of what shape the new nation should take. The U.S. was not the egalitarian society it has been painted to be but was instead
Revolution War What led to the Revolution War This paper aims to discuss main ideas that led to the Revolution War as explained by Edmund S. Morgan in the third edition of his book "The Birth of the Republic' (1993). This book was initially published in 1956 and then republished another time in 1977 and then in 1993. It provided a tremendous overview of the major events of the history of America
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