A Blog Exploring American History and Politics
Virginia Independent Chronicle (Richmond) January 16, 1788 A former soldier sought to inform his fellow Virginians about the merits of the draft Constitution, and his fellow Virginians would be in correct if they assumed that he was merely a soldier and would know nothing about the wisdom needed for setting up a new government. He […]
MoreJames Madison had extensive beliefs about the structure of American government and the sustainability of the system.
MoreBy 1787, the strength and stability of the states was under scrutiny. Shays’ Rebellion had erupted, citizens had become more licentious, and state legislatures appeared to be running rampant, doing significant damage to the health of the country as a whole. See Gordon Wood, The Creation of the American Republic: 1776-1787, 465.
MoreAs eluded to in Virtue as a Principle and Foundation, vices had come to plague American society shortly after the American Revolution. Patrick Henry said, in 1780, that he “feared that our Body politic was dangerously sick,” as from top to bottom, society appeared to be embracing vice. Patrick Henry to Jefferson, Feb. 15, 1780, Boyd, […]
MoreWhile there were perceptions that America was suffering from a malaise in the 1780s, the political theory at the time had an explanation: licentiousness.
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