Date Thesis Awarded
5-2010
Access Type
Honors Thesis -- Access Restricted On-Campus Only
Degree Name
Bachelors of Arts (BA)
Department
History
Advisor
Paul W. Mapp
Committee Members
Ronald Schechter
John Baltes
Abstract
In 1792 the stakes of political discussion in Philadelphia began to change. According to the General Advertiser, "The question in America is no longer between federalism and anti-federalism but between republicanism and anti-republicanism." Unlike the political struggles between those for and against the Constitution, the debate had shifted to something more fundamental: the survival of the republican experiment itself. Although no American likely would have described himself as "anti-republican" -- effectively an enemy of the United States' very existence and founding principles -- the editorial implicitly asserted that there existed in America the seeds of a monarchical party. These republicans feared most the "irresistible propensity of all governors to slide into despotism," and were deeply concerned by what they perceived as Congress and the president taking an increasingly broad interpretation of their powers under the Constitution.
Recommended Citation
Consolino, Christopher James, ""Watchful Guardians of Liberty": The French Revolution and the Development of Democratic-Republicanism in Philadelphia, 1792-1797" (2010). Undergraduate Honors Theses. William & Mary. Paper 660.
https://scholarworks.wm.edu/honorstheses/660
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
Comments
Thesis is part of Honors ETD pilot project, 2008-2013. Migrated from Dspace in 2016.