Oligarchies, Monopolies, and the Constitution
Live at the National Constitution Center
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Constitutional Thoughts in the Early Republic
The idea that a roughly equal division of property among a citizenry was an indispensable basis for a republican form of government was widely shared among the revolutionary and founding generations. It hailed back to seventeenth century england, as jeff mentioned, but it was the coin of the realm from fair least if we can talk about stodgy revolutionaries. This idea finds clear textual expression in the state constitutions that preceded the constitution that was made at philadelphia.
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