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Full-Text Articles in Intellectual History
The Republic Of Happiness: James Wilson, Political Thought, And The American Revolution, Kevin Diestelow
The Republic Of Happiness: James Wilson, Political Thought, And The American Revolution, Kevin Diestelow
Undergraduate Honors Theses
The moral quantity of “happiness” provides an organizing principle for understanding the political thought of James Wilson. By using happiness as a metric for understanding his thought, the Revolution can be conceptualized as an intervention in favor of human improvement. In his political thought, Wilson supported an actively empowered government which could take steps needed to support citizens’ moral and material advancement and ultimately, their happiness.
John Dickinson: The Development And Deployment Of A Legal Mind: 1754-1774, Sophie Rizzieri
John Dickinson: The Development And Deployment Of A Legal Mind: 1754-1774, Sophie Rizzieri
Undergraduate Honors Theses
This thesis argues that John Dickinson’s political thought is best described as legal-minded. I define Dickinson as broadly “legal-minded,” with his use of statute-based arguments conveyed with oratorical skill, and his articulation of constitutional principles of natural rights and balanced government. Dickinson’s work during the period from 1764 to 1774 was concerned with deploying measured arguments and constitutional principles to convince American colonists to preserve their rights against encroachments from Great Britain. Using the letters he wrote to his parents while studying law at the Middle Temple in London in the 1750s, and various public writing and speeches from the …