British and American Foundings of Parliamentary Science, 1774-1801

Upon declaring independence from Britain, the United States Congress urgently needed to establish its credentials as a legitimate government that could challenge the claims of the British Crown. In large measure this legitimacy rested upon setting in place the procedural and legal structures upon which all claims of governmental authority rest. This book explores how the nascent USA rapidly built up a system of parliamentary procedure that borrowed heavily from the British government it sought to replace.

Peter J. Aschenbrenner holds a research appointment at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana in the Department of History as an adjunct professor.

Introduction: "A Manufacturer Making the Tools He Was to Work With" 1. "Orders Indispensably Necessary" 2. "This John Milton Deserves Hanging" 3. "The Eternal Rules of Justice and Reason Ought to Be a Law" 4. "I Have Begun a Sketch" 5. "The Average Price of Peace and War" 6. "The Tactics of Political Assemblies Form the Science" 7. "Each One in This Beautiful Political Order"