Introduction to American Political Institutions and Thought

Vocabulary flashcards covering faculty psychology, early American discussions on gender and race, literary representations of human nature, and political philosophies of the founding era.

Faculty Psychology

The idea that the faculties or driving forces behind human behavior are free and categorized into three main components: reason, passions, and interests.

Reason (in Faculty Psychology)

Careful thoughtfulness that is accessible to all human beings, though considered by the founders to be more likely present in elites than in common people.

Passions (in Faculty Psychology)

Human emotions—which can be positive (such as patriotism or generosity) or negative (such as rage)—that drive behavior and affect social conflict or cooperation.

Interests (in Faculty Psychology)

The driving forces behind human action oriented toward personal, class, or public goals, ranging from public service to hard dealing in the marketplace.

Pathological

A character condition characterized by being steeped in aggression, unable to control it, and unwelcome in society.

Abigail Adams

The wife of John Adams who, in her 1776 letters to him, urged male political leaders to establish legal protections and security for women against male dominance.

"Remember the Ladies"

A famous phrase written by Abigail Adams in 1776 asking lawmakers constructing an independent American government to secure legal protections for women and girls against the unlimited power of men.

"Men would be tyrants if they could"

Abigail Adams's comment on faculty psychology, expressing that while men possess reason, their strong passions and interests incline all men toward tyranny unless checked by law.

Benjamin Rush

A Philadelphia doctor trained in Europe and leading political figure who uniquely challenged white arguments supporting slavery in revolutionary America.

"An Address Upon Slave Keeping"

A work written by Benjamin Rush challenging the principal white arguments used to justify slavery, such as natural incapacity, biblical support, and Christianization.

Colonization (Slavery Context)

The idea held by many white political leaders that freed black people could not remain in the United States and had to be resettled outside the nation, such as in Africa or Latin America.

Liberia

A nation established on the West Coast of Africa by the United States as a destination for freed slaves sent abroad through colonization.

Clotel or The President's Daughter

A novel written by black author William Wells Brown about Thomas Jefferson and his black concubine having two mixed-race daughters.

William Wells Brown

A black author who wrote the novel "Clotel or The President's Daughter" in the 1840s.

Fawn Brodie

A historian who wrote "Thomas Jefferson: An Intimate History" (1974), which examined Jefferson's relationship with Sally Hemings and their children.

Sally Hemings

An enslaved teenager taken to France by Thomas Jefferson who subsequently had six children with him over the course of their life together.

Billy Budd

The protagonist of Herman Melville's novel, a young, handsome sailor with a stutter who strikes and kills an evil officer out of frustration when falsely accused.

Master at Arms Claggett

A pathologically evil officer in Herman Melville's "Billy Budd" who falsely accuses Billy Budd of treason out of malice.

Minimax Perspective

A decision-making recommendation from economics applied by the founding fathers to structure political institutions to minimize the maximum damage bad leaders could inflict.

Richard Hofstadter

A prominent mid-twentieth-century historian who authored "The Founding Fathers: An Age of Realism" in "The American Political Tradition".

Classical Liberalism

An intellectual tradition associated with John Locke and Adam Smith that emphasizes individualism, equal rights, open competition, and laissez-faire societal organization.

Classical Republicanism

A political philosophy reacting against divine right monarchy and populism, advocating for balanced government reflecting social and economic hierarchies.

Balanced Government

The principle, dating from Aristotle through Rome and Great Britain, that political institutions should balance social classes or government structures to promote stability.

Property Requirements for Voting

Legal ownership thresholds (such as 50 acres to vote or 1,000 to 5,000 acres to run for office) used in early American states to restrict political rights to property owners.