ABSTRACT
As Chapter 2 discussed, Machiavelli described ways in which the outside world puts pressure on republican governments. These pressures have affected the United States since its earliest days. Machiavelli’s model does not predict American history perfectly, nor have Americans consistently understood their situation in Machiavellian terms, but nevertheless one can see the political dynamics described in the Discourses operating from the revolt of the thirteen colonies onward. This chapter analyses the first century and a half of American history in the light of Machiavelli’s writings.
