General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: The Royal Wedding sure has brought out the curmudgeons in force. [View all]The Velveteen Ocelot
(115,275 posts)from the control of a particular king, George III of England, not for the purpose of establishing a republic. That concept didn't come until later, when the Constitution was written and eventually made effective in 1787, 11 years after the Declaration of Independence. The latter document consists mostly of a long recitation of the "repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States" but contained no mention of the form of government that would be adopted. The 1781 Articles of Confederation established a confederation of sovereign states, but did not contain mechanisms for controlling the powers of the executive, whatever form that might take. The Framers of the constitution eventually rejected creating a monarchy because they wanted a system of checks and balances that would distribute power among three branches of government - a concept that would make a monarchy impossible. It was considered, thought, and when Washington was elected President there were some in the new government who suggested he should be made King - an idea he immediately rejected. It is not accurate to say that the US was founded as an anti-monarchy, anti-aristocracy nation; there was a non-hereditary aristocracy - initially only (male) landowners could vote.