History of the United States I / Unit 7 USH1 0901 short lesson, about 20 seconds
What a Republic Was
Captions available
The idea
A republic is a state without a king. In eighteenth-century Europe republics were few and far between, and the anchor names only Genoa, Venice and the Dutch Republic.
In practice
Revolutionary leaders looking to Rome, where citizens appointed the leaders who represented them.
Where people slip
Americans adopted the form despite European scepticism about whether republics could remain stable.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
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