THE RISE AND GROWTH OF AMERICAN POLITICS PART I origins of AMERICAN POLITICS CHAPTER I COLONIAL METHODS ENGLISH colonies at the present day do not afford a parallel to the political conditions of the American colonies at the time of the outbreak of the Revolution. The imperial sovereignty is now a protectorate which does not interfere with colonial independence in domestic affairs, and party divisions in the colonies take place on issues quite distinct from those which agitate English constituencies. But before the Revolution of 1776, England exercised its jurisdiction whenever it saw fit, action being generally for the purpose of binding American trade to suit English interests. The colonies had to keep agents at Westminster to In such a capacity look after their interests. Benjamin Franklin began his illustrious diplomatic career. American politics were merged into the general movement of English politics. nists were Whigs or Tories as hotly as in England. John Adams tells us: "In every colony divisions have always prevailed. In New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and all the rest, a court and country party has always contended. Whig and Tory disputed sharply before the Revolution and in every step during the Revolution." 1 There was, however, very little community of sentiment between the people of the various colonies. The facilities of travel and intercourse which now give a national fluidity to opinion and apply a steady corrective to local prejudice, were Intense antipathies were cherthen unknown. ished by people in one locality against those of another. When the colonies assumed the powers of states, these prejudices acquired great impor-. tance. They had to be reckoned with at almost every step taken by the Continental Congress. With the very beginning of federal government, sectional antipathies infused into national politics a rancor, some of whose bitterness still remains. In a letter written in 1815, when sectional hatred had reached a maddening pitch, John Adams said: "It sprang from the little intercourse and less knowledge which the people of the then British 1 Adams' Works, Vol. X., p. 23. |