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Common Principles Of Revolutionary Government

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After the revolutionary war, states rushed to set up governments, and each one shared 3 common principles. The first of these principles is natural rights and higher law, which came almost directly from John Locke. Natural rights and higher law is the idea that the purpose of government is to protect the citizens life, liberty and property, and that everyone had to obey the higher law, aka the constitution. The second principle is Popular sovereignty, which is essential to the concept of democracy. Popular sovereignty literally means the people are the highest authority, giving them authority to give the right to govern to the government. The final, and very important principle, is checks and balances. Checks and Balances is essentially very

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