in
Hindustan, Germany, England, and the United States. Religious character
of the ancient city. Burghership not granted to strangers. Consequences
of the political difference between the Graeco-Roman city and the
Teutonic shire. The _folk-mote_, or primary assembly, and the
_witenagemote_, or assembly of notables. Origin of representative
government in the Teutonic shire. Representation unknown to the Greeks
and Romans. The ancient city as a school for political training.
Intensity of the jealousies and rivalries between adjacent
self-governing groups of men. Smallness of simple social aggregates and
universality of warfare in primitive times. For the formation of larger
and more complex social aggregates, only two methods are
practicable,--_conquest_ or _federation_. Greek attempts at employing
the higher method, that of federation. The Athenian hegemony and its
overthrow. The Achaian and Aetolian leagues. In a low stage of political
development the Roman method of _conquest with incorporation_ was the
only one practicable. Peculiarities of the Roman conquest of Italy.
Causes of the universal dominion of Rome. Advantages and disadvantages
of this dominion:--on the one hand the _pax romana_, and the breaking
down of primitive local superstitions and prejudices; on the other hand
the partial extinction of local self-government. Despotism inevitable in
the absence of representation. Causes of the political failure of the
Roman system. Partial reversion of Europe, between the fifth and
eleventh centuries, towards a more primitive type of social structure.
Power of Rome still wielded through the Church and the imperial
jurisprudence. Preservation of local self-government in England, and at
the two ends of the Rhine. The Dutch and Swiss federations. The lesson
to be learned from Switzerland. Federation on a great scale could only
be attempted successfully by men of English political training, when
working without let or hindrance in a vast country not preoccupied by an
old civilization. Without local self-government a great Federal Union is
impossible. Illustrations from American history. Difficulty of the
problem, and failure of the early attempts at federation in New
England. Effects of the war for independence. The "Articles of
Confederation" and the "Constitution." Pacific implications of American
federalism.
III.
"_MANIFEST DESTINY._"
The Americans boast of the bigness of their country. How to "bound" the
Un
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