its power at the expense of his. The control of the finances, especially, gave them the opportunity to direct or influence the governor's activity in many ways. Appropriations might be withheld to the embarrassment of the administration, or, if granted, might be made for specific and detailed purposes. The salary of the governor was determined by the assembly, and voted by that body at its pleasure, thus making it master of the governor's financial situation, an advantage more than once used to extort his assent to measures favored by the assembly. The appointing power was also in many cases wrested from the governor and assumed by the representatives of the people. This was especially true as to the treasurer, who, as financial agent of the colony, was exposed to attack. The movement was not confined, however, to this officer, but the assembly appointed in some cases nearly all of the agents of administration, as in Pennsylvania and South Carolina.

In other ways the assembly asserted its power by assuming the direction of matters of public policy which had generally been considered a part of the prerogative of the executive. Indian affairs, for example, it sometimes managed by means of commissions appointed for that purpose; intercolonial relations were also treated in the same fashion; military affairs the legislature sometimes controlled by granting supplies,

prescribing the operations to be undertaken, appointing and removing officers, and even interfering with the discipline of the troops. So far had these encroachments gone, that in 1757 it could be said of Massachusetts that "almost every act of executive and legislative power, whether it be political, judicial or military, is ordered and directed by the votes and resolves of the General Court, in most cases originating in the House of Representatives."1 More than anything else, this conflict served to bring out the spirit of democracy which was everywhere ready for action. It was a rallying point around which tendencies favorable to independence and popular government could gather, and as the intercolonial wars helped to teach the colonists military science, so these political battles afforded them indispensable training in the art of statecraft.

On the whole, it may be said that during the colonial period the democratic spirit made remarkable progress. The colonies passed out of the stage in which they were religious experiments or industrial ventures of a rather hazardous character, and became prosperous communities eager for governmental autonomy. The individuals within these colonies were filled with a democratic enthusiasm, and ready for an advance in the direction of popular government. Until the decade

1 Board of Trade to Governor Pownall, cited by Green, op. cit.

preceding the Revolution there was, however, little systematic discussion of the problems of political theory, with the exception of the indirect contribution made by the Puritans. A steady democratizing process was going on under the influence of the new conditions, but there was little conscious reflection accompanying this process. With the agitation preliminary to the Revolution came a group of leaders who sought a philosophical basis for their policies, and accordingly made frequent use of the formulæ of political theory in their great struggle for independence.

CHAPTER II

THE POLITICAL THEORY OF THE REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD

THE most important and significant statement of American political theory is that made at the time when the United States asserted the right to an independent existence. The Declaration of Independence has been generally regarded as the corner-stone of the American political system, and the ideas of the "Fathers" of 1776 as a correct statement of the typical American political philosophy. These doctrines have undoubtedly exerted a profound influence in determining the course of American political thought. Even down to the present day, they are the standards by which must be measured all that is attempted in the world of politics. No study of American political ideas, or of American political institutions, would be complete without a careful analysis of the characteristic doctrines of 1776.

It is, then, the purpose of this chapter to examine carefully the nature and origin of the political ideas prevalent during the score of years covering the Revolutionary period; that is, from about 1763 to about 1783. The exposition of the doctrines of

this period is rendered somewhat difficult by the fact that there was no systematic presentation of political theory made during this time. There was an unlimited amount of discussion from platform and pulpit, in pamphlets, resolutions, addresses, and newspapers, but a scientific statement of the popular beliefs was not made. It was natural that under the conditions no scientific shape could be given to any body of doctrine. Men wrote and spoke with eloquence and force, and they were men of intellectual keenness and power; they spoke, however, not as philosophers, but as partisans and promoters of a concrete revolutionary program.

Among the most important sources of information for this period, despite their unsystematic form, are the speeches and writings of such men as Otis, John and Samuel Adams, Dickinson, Paine, Jefferson, and Hamilton. Many indications of the Patriot theory are also found in the various declarations of colonial rights that were made on numerous occasions by legislatures or other less formal public assemblages. Finally, in the Revolutionary state. constitutions are expressed, in legal form, the principles that were dominant among the people. From this material the ideas of this time may be reconstructed, and a fairly adequate and comprehensive view of its political theory obtained.

At the outset a few words may be said in regard to the historical situation under which was