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Democracy/en: Difference between revisions
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John Adams spoke for many of the early patriots when he said, | John Adams spoke for many of the early patriots when he said, | ||
<blockquote>I [...] was always for a Free Republic; not a democracy, which is as arbitrary Tyrannical bloody cruel and intolerable a government as that of Phalaris with his Bull<ref>Phalaris was the ruler of Akragas (now Agrigento) in Sicily, from approximately 570 to 554 <small>B</small>.<small>C</small>. He was a tyrant | <blockquote>I [...] was always for a Free Republic; not a democracy, which is as arbitrary Tyrannical bloody cruel and intolerable a government as that of Phalaris with his Bull<ref>Phalaris was the ruler of Akragas (now Agrigento) in Sicily, from approximately 570 to 554 <small>B</small>.<small>C</small>. He was a tyrant renonwned for his excessive cruelties, which included roasting his victims alive inside the body of a brazen bull.</ref> is represented to have been. Robespierre is a perfect exemplification of the Character of the first Bell Wether in a Democracy.<ref>Letter from John Adams to Mercy Otis Warren, July 30, 1807. [https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Adams/99-02-02-5199 https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Adams/99-02-02-5199]</ref></blockquote> | ||
Why were they so opposed to democracy? Democracy comes from the Greek word for “the people,” ''demos''. It connotes a rule based on the majority decisions with full participation of all the people. | Why were they so opposed to democracy? Democracy comes from the Greek word for “the people,” ''demos''. It connotes a rule based on the majority decisions with full participation of all the people. | ||