A Blog Exploring American History and Politics
While an upper house of state legislatures was desirable to some, as explained in The Birth of the Senate, it also had its detractors. Those detractors argued that it was a mere redundancy, wholly irrelevant to the founding of a stable government. In taking that position, the detractors ignored many of the benefits of having […]
MoreAs explained in The Birth of the Senate, the states’ creation of an upper house of Congress set the precedent for a fully functioning, bicameral legislature in most states and the federal government. However, the selection process of who should be a senator was another subject for debate.
MoreIn the earliest years of the American Republic, theories were abound about the proper structure of government to best balance equality and wise decision-making. John Adams stated, in his Thoughts on Government, that “a people cannot be long free, nor ever happy, whose government is in one assembly.” Gordon Wood, The Creation of the American Republic: 1776-1787, […]
MoreFor many of the Founding Fathers, the biggest threat to the stability and success of the United States was tyranny. Tyranny was a force that could bring down the most free and just societies. Underlying much of the creation of the institutions that now define the American government, the judiciary, the legislature, and the executive, […]
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