American Republican Ideology

The republican ideology is a facet of the social fabric of the colonial citizens of America that may, arguably, have had the greatest affect on the struggle for independence and the formation of a constitutional form of government in the United States. The birth of the republican ideology, while impossible to place an exact date on, or even month, can be traced back more than a decade before the

Revolutionary War. It can also be argued that this social machine began to function as a result of circumstances which led many colonist to choose to come to America. The uniformity of this ideology, however, would change and modify itself as circumstances warranted in the period between 1760 and 1800.

It is first necessary to understand the exact reasons why the ancestors of the American revolutionaries chose to live in America, as opposed to staying in England, where a healthy and prosperous life was a much greater possibility. America was, in the eyes of its first

English settlers, an open book with no writing on the pages. It was the foundation of a building that had not yet been built. Many felt that it was up to them to shape the way this new land would function, as opposed to the way Parliament or the King felt it should. The memories of these early pioneering settlers were a common theme for

American revolutionaries before the Revolutionary War. These early settlers were the creators of the foundation to the building the revolutionaries would finish.

Another common theme which drove the revolutionary ideology was the knowledge not only of the monumental significance of the job to be undertaken, but also the impact a free democracy on a scale as large as America would have on future generations of Americans who, certainly, would not take their freedom for granted. The ideology held by most American revolutionaries was one in which they knew their sacrifices would be acknowledged and appreciated by future generations of Americans. There was also the knowledge that America would serve as an example to God and the rest of the world of what the advantages of a free society could be.

Religion also played an important role in the establishment of this ideology. God, in the eyes of the earliest revolutionaries, was on the side of liberty. There was religious justification for actions undertaken by both England and America. The Engl...

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...he best response to the problem would be to control the affects. He also realized that a multiplicity of parties would not be conducive to stability in a government which, in the case of the United States at the time, was a necessity. The specific advantage to having only two parties, as seen by Madison, was that given equal power and representation, they could keep each other in check. This would make it nearly impossible for any one party to take too much control of the government.

It can clearly be seen that the ideology in which the American people subscribed to prior to the Revolutionary War did go through several challenges and modifications by 1800. Although parties did not arise until after the Revolutionary War, there were still modifications and challenges much earlier, as can be seen in the

Continental Army. What is also unique is, despite the numerous challenges and slight modifications, the ideology was able to persist through these traumatic years and shape a nation and a government in ways that history had not before seen done with such ease. This is a true testament to the fortitude and durability of the republican ideology and America as a whole.