Roger Sherman and the Creation of the American RepublicOUP USA, 2013 - 224 pages Roger Sherman was the only founder to sign the Declaration and Resolves (1774), Articles of Association (1774), Declaration of Independence (1776), Articles of Confederation (1777, 1778), and Constitution (1787). He served on the five-man committee that drafted the Declaration of Independence, and he was among the most influential delegates at the Constitutional Convention. As a Representative and Senator in the new republic, he played important roles in determining the proper scope of the national government's power and in drafting the Bill of Rights. Even as he was helping to build a new nation, Sherman was a member of the Connecticut General Assembly and a Superior Court judge. In 1783, he and a colleague revised all of the state's laws. Roger Sherman and the Creation of the American Republic explores Sherman's political theory and shows how it informed his many contributions to America's founding. A central thesis of the work is that Sherman, like many founders, was heavily influenced by Calvinist political thought. This tradition had a significant impact on the founding generation's opposition to Great Britain, and it led them to develop political institutions designed to prevent corruption, promote virtue, and protect rights. Contrary to oft-repeated assertions by jurists and scholars that the founders advocated a strictly secular polity, Mark David Hall argues persuasively that most founders believed Christianity should play an important role in the new American republic. |
Contents
1 The Old Puritan and a New Nation | 1 |
2 Reformed Political Theory in the American Founding | 12 |
3 Connecticut Politics and American Independence | 41 |
4 Achieving Independence | 63 |
5 An Eel by the Tail | 92 |
6 Roger Sherman and the New National Government | 122 |
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Amendment American Founding American Political American Republic American Revolution Anglican appointed argued argument Articles of Confederation Assembly Baldwin Bill of Rights Calvin Calvinist Cambridge Christian Christopher Collier citizens civil clergy colleagues Colonial committee Congregationalist Connecticut Compromise Constitutional Convention contended debates Declaration of Independence delegates DHFFC dissenters draft Dreisbach and Hall elected Eliphalet Dyer England essay executive Ezra Stiles faith Farrand Federal Convention Franklin Haven History House Huntington Ibid influence instance issue John Adams John Witherspoon judges legislation legislature letter Locke Massachusetts ministers national government natural rights noted Oliver Ellsworth Oxford University Press Parliament political ideas Presbyterian president proposed protect PRSC Puritan ratification Records Reformed political theory Reformed tradition Religion religious liberty Rights of Conscience Roger Sherman Roger Sherman's Connecticut Samuel Huntington scholars Senate sermon significant Simeon Baldwin slavery slaves statute Superior Court theological tion vote William Samuel Johnson wrote Yale University York