The Founding Fathers often talked about what "republicanism" meant. In 1787, John Adams defined it as "a government, in which all men, rich and poor, magistrates and subjects, officers and people, masters and servants, the first citizen and the last, are equally subject to the laws."
Some other ideas also affected the Founding Fathers. For example, in the 1600s, John Locke, an English philosopher, had created the idea of the "social contract." This idea said that people agree to obey governments, and in return, those governments agree to protect the people and their rights. This is like a contract made between the people and the government. If the government breaks this contract, and does not protect the people's rights, then the people have the right to overthrow their leaders. This idea was important to the Revolutionists.
When they were writing state and national constitutions, the Americans used ideas from Montesquieu, an 18th-century French political thinker. Montesquieu wrote about how the perfect British constitution would be "balanced." The idea of a balance of power (also called "checks and balances") is a very important part of the Constitution. It is one of the strategies the Founders used to make sure their government would be republican and protect the people from government corruption.
The Founding Fathers wanted republicanism because its ideas guaranteed liberty, with limited powers checking and balancing each other. However, they also wanted change to happen slowly. They worried that in a democracy, the majority of voters could vote away rights and freedoms. They were most worried about poor Americans (who made up most of the United States) turning against the rich. They worried that democracy could turn into "mob rule."
To guard against this, the Founders wrote many protections into the Constitution. For example:
Most adult white males were able to vote. In 1776, most states required people to own property to be able to vote. However, at that time, America was 90% rural, and most people owned farms. As cities grew bigger and people started doing work in the cities, most states dropped the property requirement. By 1850, this requirement was gone in every state.
Under the new government after the Revolution, "republican motherhood" became an ideal. Abigail Adams and Mercy Otis Warren were held up as the perfect "republican mothers." This idea said that a republican mother's first duty was to teach her children republican values. Her second job was to live simply and avoid luxury, which the Founders linked with corruption.
Many of the Founders did not think "democracy" was a good idea. Their idea of "democracy" was the "pure democracy" that de Tocqueville had described. They worried often about the problem of 'tyranny of the majority' that de Tocqueville had warned about. They wrote many protections into the Constitution to prevent this from happening. As historians Richard Ellis and Michael Nelson write: "The principles of republican government embedded in the Constitution represent an effort by the framers to [make sure] that the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness would not be [destroyed] by majorities." Thomas Jefferson warned that "an elect[ed] despotism is not the government we fought for."
James Madison, in particular, worried about this, and wrote about it in "The Federalist Papers". The "Federalist Papers" talk about democracy as being dangerous, because it allows a majority to take away the rights of a smaller group. However, Madison thought that as more people came to the United States, the country would get more diverse, and it would be harder to form a majority big enough to do this. In Federalist No. 10, Madison also argued that a strong federal government would help protect republicanism. The United States' first constitution, the Articles of Confederation, gave most power to the states and had a very weak federal government that could not get anything done. In Federalist No. 10, Madison argued that a small but powerful group might be able to take control of a small area, like a state. However, it would be much harder to take over an entire country. The bigger the country, he argued, the safer republicanism would be.
As late as 1800, the word "democrat" still had a very bad meaning to most Americans. It was mostly used to attack an opponent of the Federalist party. In 1798, George Washington complained that a "Democrat ... will leave nothing unattempted to overturn the Government of this Country." This changed over the next few decades.
United States Supreme Court Justice Joseph Story (1779–1845) made the protection of property rights by the courts a major part of American republicanism. James Madison appointed Story to the Court in 1811. Story and Chief Justice John Marshall made the Court a protector of the rights of property against runaway democracy. Story believed that "the right of the citizens to the free enjoyment of their property" (if they got it legally) was "a great and fundamental principle of a republican government." Historians agree that Story—as much or more than Marshall or anyone else—reshaped American law in a conservative direction that protected property rights.
Republicanism saw military service as one of a citizen's most important duties. John Randolph, a Congressman from Virginia, once said: "When citizen and soldier shall be synonymous terms, then you will be safe."
However, at this time, the word "army" meant "foreign mercenaries." After the Revolutionary War, Americans did not trust mercenaries. Instead, they came up with the idea of a national army, made of citizens. They changed their definition of military service from a choice of careers to a civic duty something every good republican should do. Before the Civil War, people saw military service as an important show of patriotism, and a necessary part of citizenship. To soldiers, military service was something they chose to do, something they had a say in, and it showed that they were good citizens.
The term "republic" is not used in the Declaration of Independence. However, it does appear in Article Four of the Constitution, which "guarantee[s] to every State in this Union a Republican form of Government."
The United States Supreme Court has created a basic definition of what a "republic" is. In "United States v. Cruikshank" (1875), the court ruled that the "equal rights of citizens" were inherent to the idea of a republic. Later, the Court's decision from "In re Duncan" (1891) ruled that the "right of the people to choose their government" is also part of the definition of a republic.
Over time, most Americans changed their opinion about the word "democracy." By the 1830s, most Americans saw democracy as a great thing, and members of the new Democratic Party proudly called themselves "Democrats."
After 1800, the limitations on democracy (like rules that limited who could vote) were removed one by one:
Defence Intelligence
Defence Intelligence (DI) is part of the United Kingdom "intelligence Community", with the SIS, GCHQ, and the Security Service.
It is not a stand-alone organisation, but a part of the Ministry of Defence (MOD). The organisation employs civilian and military staff. The organisation was formerly known as the Defence Intelligence Staff or DIS, but changed its name in 2009.
Defence Intelligence gets information from many sources. This information is used to support military operations, planning, and defence policy. It notes politico-military, scientific and technical developments which may affect the UK. DI's assessments support the work of the Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC), other Government departments, and international partners such as NATO and the European Union.