Republicanism, Liberty, and Commercial Society, 1649-1776

This book examines republicanism in an Anglo-American and European context from the execution of Charles I to the publication of Tom Paine’s Common Sense. It gives weight not only to the thought of the leading and secondary theorists of republicanism, but also to the practical experience of republican governments in England, Geneva, the Netherlands, and Venice. It thus deepens our understanding of the meaning of republicanism in the early modern Western World. In the process, it fundamentally alters a number of commonly received views, and it simultaneously provides a searching analysis of how actual republics worked in this period. In addition, the volume supplies a thorough overview of the historiography of republicanism, reassessing, for example, the role of classical ideals, and also the work of J. G. A. Pocock.