"Commonwealth Men" were those who held a well-defined set of political beliefs about the importance of liberty and the need for people to defend their rights against excessive government power. Their ideas, which had taken shape in England, became dominant in the colonies by the mid-eighteenth century, and inspired Americans to resist the Stamp Act and other forms of British taxation. The beliefs of the Commonwealth Men eventually led the colonists into revolution; they also influenced the framers of the Constitution and the political culture of the new nation. Commonwealth Men were often referred to as "Real Whigs," and their political ideas came to be known as "republicanism."

Origins and Principles of Commonwealth Thought

Commonwealth political ideas originated in England. Twice in the seventeenth century the English had deposed kings who were threatening to take absolute power at the expense of the people's rights. During these...