Using the Declaration of Independence, and the
following excerpt from Thomas Paine’s Common Sense, analyze the emergence and importance of republicanism to the
early Republic. What were the
basic tenets of American republicanism? What sorts of Enlightenment ideas and beliefs could be found in the texts? In what ways did the heart of
republican thought affect the growth of the United States? Your essay should explore why republicanism emerged in the eighteenth century and how it became such an integral part of the new country’s political lexicon.