[pt] A Revolução Americana registrou uma intensa participação política popular nos Estados da Confederação. Este período marcou a preferência pela doutrina da separação absoluta de Poderes, uma vez que o sistema de governo balanceado inglês permitiu que o clientelismo real corrompesse a independência do Parlamento, órgão supostamente responsável pela defesa das liberdades civis nas colônias. Porém, o engajamento do povo foi condenado pela elite norteamericana, que liderou um movimento de centralização do poder capaz de controlar o excesso de democracia local, identificado com a supremacia que as assembléias possuíam no âmbito estadual. Neste contexto surge a Constituição de 1787, que funda suas bases na teoria dos freios e contrapesos como um método de fiscalização recíproca dos Poderes, mas, com especial destaque, para o controle do Legislativo. O evento constitucional enfraqueceu a virtude dos cidadãos, que se restringiu à atividade de expansão rumo à fronteira e criou um mecanismo de governo autônomo, que concentrou a política na ação de uma elite dirigente e na relação entre os diferentes órgãos intra-estatais. O estudo da concepção de separação de Poderes em Jefferson, Madison e Hamilton ajuda a esclarecer o modo com que o projeto constitucional de 1787 rompeu com a ideologia a essência revolucionária. / [en] The American Revolution presented a high level of popular politics participation under the Confederation years. This moment marked the option for the absolute doctrine of the separation of powers as a response against the failure of the balanced constitution theory and the incapacity of the British Parliament to protect the colonies civil liberties. However, the fear of popular engagement made the American elites lead a centralization of power that could be able to control the popular local democracy. The Constitution of the United States and its checks and balances system were born as a result of that conservative process. The constitutional structure protected the government of the people direct action and influence, creating a separated dimension to the politics forces game. The study of the concepts of this era and the meanings they were used, particularly, the Jefferson s, Madison s and Hamilton s conception concerning of the separation of powers doctrine helps to understand how the Constitution ruptured the spirit of the American Revolution, based on the active citizenship.

Monticello, the plantation home of Thomas Jefferson, was also home to more than 100 African American slaves between 1771 and 1826. As many as 40 members of this community lived and worked on Mulberry Row, once a bustling avenue of residential and industrial activity adjacent to the Palladian mansion. Archaeological excavations in 1957 and 1982–-1983 uncovered the remains of Mulberry Row's nailery, where preteen and teenaged enslaved "“nail boys”" manufactured nails for internal use and sale. These excavations revealed surprisingly high amounts of domestic artifacts, particularly ceramics and glass, indicating the young nailers also may have lived inside the nailery. This study investigates whether the nail boys maintained some semblance of childhood through ongoing participation in their parents'’ households or fully took on the mantle of adulthood by forming a household of their own, independent of their parents, as expressed in the local production and consumption of household goods. This question is explored within the contexts of the archaeology of slavery, household archaeology, and the archaeology of children. The intersection of these three themes provides a richer and more realistic understanding of the boys'’ complex lives. In this study, artifact abundance indices and Pearson residuals are used to compare artifacts from the nailery to artifacts from industrial and dwelling sites across Monticello plantation. I hypothesized that if the nail boys were participating in food production and consumption, the abundance of refined and utilitarian ceramics and glass would be similar to or higher than the abundance of those artifacts in dwelling sites. If the abundance of the nailery artifacts was lower than those for dwelling sites and was therefore more similar to those for industrial sites, the nail boys probably did not participate in domestic activities. The indices and residuals reveal a high abundance of refined ceramics and glass in the nailery and a low abundance of utilitarian ceramics, which would have been needed to cook and store food. The data suggest the nail boys engaged in the consumption of food and associated artifacts but participated in little or no food production. It is likely that their age and gender prevented them from fully engaging in food production within the nailery. This project adds to the fledgling research into slave children, who have traditionally been ignored by childhood, slave, and household archaeologists.

Enlightenment theorists like John Locke and Montesquieu were incredibly influential for the American Revolution. However, while Jean-Jacques Rousseau is widely regarded as one of the most influential Enlightenment writers in history and while his work was very influential in Europe, especially during the French Revolution, Rousseau's theories were not widely read and he is not considered a strong influence on American political theory. In this thesis, I argue that Rousseau is considered noninfluential in particular because of the conflict between his theories of communtarianism and egalitarianism and Federalist political projects that aimed to convert the United States into a large, mercantalist, international presence. Anti-Federalists were much more receptive to Rousseau's theories but were unable to commit to them fully because of their reliance on chattel slavery and his firm opposition to the institution. Finally, I argue that the tensions between early American politicians and Rousseau's theories of egalitarianism showcase the pseudodemocratic nature of early American politics and rhetoric and explain American government's oligarchic tendencies.

In contemporary American political life, concepts such as duty to country and society often play a role in political discourse, but are often forgotten in the lives of average Americans. The life of the average citizen is focused on issues of economic survival, familial matters, and the diversions that occupy persons. Devotion to country is made an at best secondary concern for Americans. The purpose of this work is to examine the concepts of civic virtue that historically have dominated American political thought, using the writings of Thomas Jefferson and his influences as the primary source material for this effort, as well as the writings of modern western political theorists. Through this work, a conflict emerges between the values of western liberal thought and classic republicanism; to this end, a secondary purpose of this work is to reconcile those differences in an American context. Finally, a third purpose of this work is to offer a theoretical plan for re-connecting the average citizen with concepts of civic virtue through a proposal for public service.

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Margaret Bayard Harrison Smith was a prominent member of early Washington City society from the time she and her husband, Samuel Harrison Smith, moved to the blossoming capital in 1800 until her death in 1844. As a longtime resident of Washington, Margaret spent most of her adult life navigating the unique socio-political waters of the capital and developing friendships with many of the most prominent politicians of her time. Mrs. Smith's writings provide firsthand accounts of several important political events including Congress' role in the election of 1800, Jefferson's first inauguration, Madison's first inauguration, and the destruction left by the British after the siege of Washington. Her writings also provide a picture of early undeveloped Washington City, where grand public buildings were largely surrounded by wilderness and connected by muddy roads. While this work looks at the social and political environment that Margaret Smith experienced, it also examines many of the personal concerns that frequented Mrs. Smith's writings. Margaret's views on educating her children, interacting with servants, interacting with the enslaved population of Washington, and dealing with feelings of isolation, due to the distance from her family, are frequently addressed in her letters. Focusing on these aspects of Mrs. Smith's writings allows for a greater examination of the societal norms of her day about gender, class, and race. While Margaret's letters and commonplace books have often been used to examine Washington society and the lives of her prominent friends, there is no biography of Mrs. Smith herself. This dissertation provides the first biography of Margaret Bayard Harrison Smith from her birth until the end of the War of 1812.

Despite the vast research on industrial innovation in the United States, little shows innovation as a process from the theoretical origins to its practical application. The image that emerges from the overall literature is one showing only the importance of applied innovation. This thesis argues that historians need to reevaluate how manufacturing advancements are studied in the United States. Using the creation of the American System of Manufacturing as a case study, this study focuses on innovation as a connected process from its theoretical origins to its applied state. This study focuses less on the individuals involved and more on the system itself. This accomplishes two points. First is that it shows that the idea is more important than the peoples. Second is that this thesis provides a greater understanding of how the American System of Manufacturing came to fruition. By examining these two points, this thesis demonstrates that historians need to look beyond the traditional application-only focus that has plagued the study of technological history. Instead historians must show industrial innovation as both the creation of the theoretical concept and the systems practical application. / History

La present tesi doctoral analitza la confrontació que va tenir lloc al llarg del segle XVIII entre el naturalista francès Georges-Louis Leclerc, comte de Buffon, iniciador de la teoria de la degeneració i la inferioritat americanes, i el principal redactor de la Declaració d’Independència dels Estats Units, Thomas Jefferson, qui va realitzar la desarticulació de la mateixa. S’ha dut a terme un buidatge en profunditat de les obres d’aquests dos autors que ha permès establir els paràmetres principals de les posicions corresponents, i s’hi han afegit també les d’altres autors secundaris que van participar en la polèmica de manera significativa per tal d’obtenir una millor perspectiva. L’objectiu primordial ha estat establir la importància d’aquest debat en la creació del discurs identitari de la jove nació nord-americana a través de l’estudi comparatiu de la influència en aquest sentit de les temàtiques més tractades. / This doctoral thesis analyses the confrontation that took place throughout the 18th century between the French naturalist Georges-Louis Leclerc, comte de Buffon, initiator of the American degeneracy theory, and the main writer of the United States’ Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson, who dismantled it. The works of these two authors have been thoroughly examined in order to establish the main parameters of their corresponding positions. Also, the works of secondary authors who participated in the polemic in a significant way have been added in order to obtain a better perspective. The main goal has been to establish the importance of this debate in the creation of the identity speech of the young North American nation by using a comparative study of the influence, in this sense, of each one of the topics treated.

This thesis is about Thomas Jefferson Bowen (1814 - 1875), a Baptist missionary of the Foreign Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention, United States. Bowen worked in Africa and tried to work with slaves in Brazil. These facts made Bowen a missionary ahead of his time. He had a different perspective and attitude to Africa and Africans. His book Central Africa, his personal letters, his articles, his life, show that he was deeply involved with the idea that Africa could be much more than only a good place to purchase slaves. His whole missionary life was expended in a project to train blacks to work in Africa as missionaries and teachers. What made Bowen a different missionary from his fellows in his time was the fact that he was able to understand and respect the culture of the people with whom he was involved. He could see and appreciate the structures of the African society and he planned a development project from the African perspective. He was a missionary who believed that the Western society was not appropriate for Africa. Africa had to find its own way. He was different because he believed that missionaries have to speak the language of the people and should not force the native people to learn English as a "holy" language. We present this work as a tribute to this missionary whose life and relationship with blacks can be seen as an example of respect and understanding of the culture of a people. / Thesis (M.Th.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 1998.

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