International Archives: The Classical World’s Impact on the Founding Fathers

AcknowledgmentsSpecialThanksto:ProfessorSummerhill(Mentor)

ProfessorPetrieProfessorCraig

ProfessorKleinermanThe Omeka Lab,

James Madison College’s PTCD CurriculumMSU Library

Ancient Greek States: “Pure Democracy”We the people… were governed by the popular will of the Athenian citizens, defined as adult males over the age of 20, who were non-slaves and non-foreigners.Laws could not be appealed to a higher authority. The voice of the people reigned supreme.

The Ancient ConfederacyVisions for democratic rule

• The mainland of Greece was comprised of a confederacy of independent city-states.

• Athens achieved its independence from Sparta at the end of a civil war in 508 BCE.

• While Sparta’s regime maintained a militant-oligarchical state, Athens went in the direction of popular democracy.

ImplicationsofthetiesBetweenGreece,RomeandtheU.S.A common thread between the designers of all three governments is the need for institutions to protect against emotion and the human spirit of ambition.

America first formed the Articles of Confederation, and experienced many of the same problems with stability of the states that the Greeks did.

Fear of tyrannical central authority was rooted in historical study of the Romans’ errors in conducting federal authority.

A representative republic was agreed upon, with a Constitution that featured a Bill of Rights, combining elements of Greece’s care for liberty and Rome’s order.

“Only through the preservation ofpast civilizations, can the United States strengthen and enrich its own.” - JFK

By: Garrett JonesMentor: Dr. Thomas Summerhill

History, Political Science and EconomicsAncient Rome: “A Mixed Republic” We the people… of the early Roman republic were governed by: The one (a pair of executive consuls)

The few (300 Senators of a noble class)The many (representative of the masses)

*In the event of war, a temporary dictator.It mixed the strengths of monarchy,

aristocracy, and democracy.

The United States of AmericaThe heirs to the ancient tradition of self-governance

Oligarchy vs. Mob RuleSparta

• Lycurgus' pursuit of a secure state led him to establish a regime that valued stability and security more so than liberty.

• Militant obsession caused Aristotle to say” while the Spartans' single minded pursuit of courage had provided them with essential security, it had also deprived them of the the ability to live in a way that has real value.”

Athens• Athens thought direct would form a

harmonious and representative citizenry.• The practice of Ostracism in Athens led to the

trial of Socrates, as told by Plato in The Apology of Socrates.

• Athens' destruction is attributed to mob-rule and the lack of a central power with wisdom to guide the masses emotional decisions.

• As seen in the picture, citizens used their right to vote to wish which of their neighbors be exiled on pieces of pottery called "Ostrakon."

Founders’ Concerns with Decentralized Government Founders’ Concerns with Federal Authority

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John Adams: Federal authority would lead the states to “escape

the tumultuous commotions, like the raging waves of the sea, which always plagued

Athens."

"Had Greece been united by a stricter confederation and preserved in her union, she would never have worn the chains of

Macedon; and might have proved a barrier to the vast projects of Rome.”

(Hamilton, Fed. 18).

"We know that the ruin of one of (the Greek states) proceeded from the

incapacity of the federal authority to prevent the dissensions, and finally the

disunion, of the subordinate authorities.” (Madison, Fed. 45)

The Founders on Greece: The Founders on Rome:

The Federal RepublicVisions for democratic rule

• The Roman constitution had three elements, each of them possessing sovereign powers.

• Their respective share of power was consolidated in a Federal system with few electives named tribunes to represent the will of the masses.

Fear of Tyrannical LeadersThe 10 Decemvirs

• In 451 BC, power shifted in Rome's executive from two consuls to ten "decemvirs.”

• Three of the ten appointed decemvirs had "traveled to Athens in the belief that their knowledge of foreign laws would be useful in establishing new laws.”

• The decemvirs established The Twelve Tables to affirm the liberties of the public.

• The plebs yielded all power to the decemvirs because of their approval of the ten’s wisdom.

Abuse of Power• When the term of the original decemvirs

ended, the newly appointed ten ignored the twelve tables and acted hostile towards plebs.

• The decemvirs removed plebeian "Right of appeal" and agreed to remove the right of vetoing each other, beginning to act like ten individual kings.

• Horrified by abuse of the plebs, new consuls took over in 449 BC to set things right.

• "The Twelve Tables were set up in bronze in public" for all to see and never to forget.

Thomas Jefferson sent copies of Polybius' Histories to help

the Founders "study the Roman Republic’s mixed Constitution for what it might reveal about

federal systems"

Unless the most watchful attention be exerted, a new servitude may be slipped on

us, under the sanction of the usual and respectable terms. Thus, the Caesars ruined Roman liberty, under the titles of tribunical

and dictatorial authorities.”(John Dickinson, Letters from a PA Farmer)

"The stamp act was like the sword that Nero wished for to have decollated the Roman Empire at a stroke. Nero seized power and used his cunning ways as a

demagogue to turn heartlessly against the citizens as a tyrant.

(Patrick Henry)

• Thomas Jefferson’s Declaration argues self-governance to be a divine right of all men, not to a divine king.

• Roman politician, Cicero writes of self-governance as a natural law.

• The Founders viewed a return to the core principles of ancient self-government as a return to natural and just relationships of human beings to each other.

President Washington dressed in Roman attire to honor famed Roman Dictator,

Cincinnatus, who is celebrated for virtuously resigning from power like Washington.

Both sought to teach their populace their belief that governing was more about public

service than personal glory and honor.

Materials&MethodsA capstone study of four years in JMC’s PTCD Major.Reference of texts discussed in classes such as MC201, MC270, MC271, MC272, MC390, MC370, HST325, HST303, PHL210 and supplemental texts found in the MSU Main Library. Comparative Republicanism study abroad in Florence and Rome.