OT: Seriously????

[Raellus]

Originally Posted by swaghauler

You do not have a Republic until all of your leaders are elected. This is not an indictment of the British Empire. It simply explains my earlier statement about Republics. The Founding Fathers could not go to "Country X" and ask them; "How's that Republic thing working out for you?" Reading about or imagining something is VERY different from doing it. The British EMPIRE was not yet a "Republic." It was an evolving Oligarchy (which is an unusual and interesting event in and of itself).

Perhaps not on a national level. I'm afraid we disagree as to the degree to which the British government c. 1776 could be considered a republic. Considering that only landed white males could vote in the new U.S.A., it was closer to an "evolving oligarchy" than most would like to admit. On a local level, the FF had plenty of experience with republican government. Nearly all of the colonies had elected law-making bodies, for example, the Virginia House of Burgesses, in which many of the FF served. They had direct, personal experience in "state-level" republican government, and models in empires both ancient and contemporary. My point is that they were not creating a radically new system of government in a vacuum.