History Homework

Respond to Students Answer:

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The Impact of the Classics on the Founding Fathers

A significant classical author mentioned by Dr. Carl Richards is Plato (Richard, 2008). Plato was a roman classical author and his take on the Roman Republic in his writings seems to have influenced the formation of the American government as seen now. The founding fathers seemed to view the Roman Empire as the ideal example of a mixed regime. The Roman republic had set up a system of ruling that encompassed various different social classes all under one leader known as the consul. The consul was the overall leader of all the people and he can be equated to the President at the present time USA. The Romans also had the aristocrats rule also known as the senate (Richard, 2008). This can also be seen in present day USA where the senate is also part of the government. Finally the roman republic had the rule of the people known as the tribunes; this can be equated to the House of Representatives in the modern day government of the USA.

With reference to this form of government it is possible to see the influence the Romans had on the founding fathers (Richard, 2008). Using Plato’s writings the founding fathers were able to decide on a separate power form of government and were able to modify the constitution to encompass this separate powers and their role in government. The founding fathers seemed to attribute this separation of power to the success of the Roman Empire despite the fact that it came to collapse later on in History. It seems that classical authors did shape the decisions made by the founding 

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fathers and in a way influenced the formation of the USA government.

The video on the impact of the classics on the founding father has a very interesting take on how classical authors shaped the decisions and thoughts of the founding father. The author argues that 18th century educational system and social institutions made the founding fathers worship the classics. The video focuses on various founding fathers’ uses and adaptation to various beliefs that are attributed to the ancient Greeks and Romans. They used influences like mixed government theory, pastoralism, philosophy and anti models to shape the US constitution and in general to govern the country. The video shows the impact of the classics either directly and indirectly on the decision making process of the founding fathers and the making of the US constitution.

The classics also influenced their perception on understanding virtue, sense of identity, how they conceived human nature and purpose on a grand universal scale. This means that the classical authors had a great influence both physically and psychologically on the founding fathers. We also see the influence of the classics on the relationship between the federalists and the republicans (Richards, 1996). The supposed bitter rivalry between the two groups is as a result of the founders’ obsessive fear of people conspiring against liberty as written in the classical. This shows the deep impact the classical authors had on the psychological views of the founding fathers.

Dr. Carl Richards focused on what this classical authors and history has to teach us not only then but also currently. His take on how the classical authors influenced the running of the USA government and the lives of its 

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people is a clear way to prove the inspiring supremacy of the classics.

Works Cited

Richard, C. J. (2008). Greeks and Romans bearing gifts: How the ancients inspired the Founding Fathers. Lanham, Md: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.

Richard, C. J. (1996). The founders and the classics: Greece, Rome and the American Enlightenment. Cambridge, Mass. [u.a.: Harvard Univ. Press.

Respond to Students Answer:

Plutarch

I did some research and found an article by Telly Halkias titled “WHY PLUTARCH MATTERS” (2013).  I found the article interesting as Plutarch is credited, by the author, with being the first to use differing popular writing styles (Halkias 2013).  I am not sure about this claim, but Plutarch does tell more of a story about each character.  Also among the many reasons he provides for why Plutarch matters he includes how his writings inspired our Founding fathers (Halkias 2013). The article provides an interesting, but brief explanation of Plutarch’s importance.  I am not sure of the articles importance except to provide enough information to crate interest in Plutarch.   The article interested me so I went on to read some of Plutarch’s work.   Plutarch provided Biographies, History, and essays on differing topics.  This provided a great body of work from which our Founding Fathers could gain knowledge.  Plutarch wrote of Cato’s Valor and humble honor (trans. 1994).  He also provided writings on Caesar which show a man more interested in power and control (Plutarch. trans. 1994). His works provide information about the actions and interactions of people in life, war, and government.   This historical reference allowed the Founding Fathers and us in turn to benefit from the knowledge of the past.  The writings on Cato and Caesar provide insight into differing strategies they had used for battle.  The information on the political systems allowed for the comparison and study of benefits and problems within the differing systems.  Information on government providing services such as water supplies to benefit the public showed some of the positive public work of government.  The Founding Fathers had, in Plutarch’s account of history, evidence of how the state could function to improve the lives of the citizens.  Perhaps just as important the writings of Plutarch also include Caesar and his quest for power (Plutarch. trans. 1994).  Plutarch’s writings show how a person’s actions can be honorable and positive.   However, good positive actions are sometimes best understood when compared to self- serving acts of the greedy or power hungry.  Plutarch provided this contrast by writing about so many different important people and there interactions with others.   In the end I guess the article was important as it lead me to read some of Plutarch’s writings.

The video only seems to briefly mention Plutarch.  However, it seems the idea was that the Founding Fathers had often relied on the wisdom found in the ancient texts.  They were creating a new form of government using the knowledge of a long successful ancient form of government.  They could copy what they liked and develop changes and improvements.  They learned from the past creating a new version of government by using and improving on ancient governmental systems.   I liked the video.  I find the topic of the Founding Fathers interesting.  I knew some of them had studied ancient texts, but I had not heard of Plutarch.

 

Reference

UNE Center for Global Humanities. Carl J. Richard on "Greeks and Romans Bearing Gifts: How the Ancients Inspired the Founding Fathers." YouTube, 1:04, March 31, 2009, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0G8ucOpRxE

Halkias, T. “WHY PLUTARCH MATTERS.” The Portland Sun.  May 2, 2013. Accessed February 26, 2015,http://www.portlanddailysun.me/index.php/opinion/columns/9254-why-plutarch-matters

Plutarch, Cato the Younger, trans. J. Dryden, (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1994), accessed February 26, 2015, http://classics.mit.edu/Plutarch/cato_you.html

Plutarch, Marcus Cato, trans. J. Dryden, (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1994), accessed February 26, 2015, http://classics.mit.edu/Plutarch/mar_cato.html

 

Plutarch, Caesar, trans. J. Dryden, (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1994), accessed February 26, 2015,http://classics.mit.edu/Plutarch/caesar.html