This chapter discussed the origins of American political principles by showcasng their development from antiquity through the early modern period of occidental history. Moving forward from the ancient political philosphers of the Greco-Roman period including Plato, Aristotle, Cicero, and Augustine they devolped the ideas of democracy (rule by the many) along with the mixed constitutional prescriptions of republicanism (limited governemnt through elements of monarchy, aristocracy, and democracy) to prevent tyrannical degeneration of the polis or poltical community. Next, the Middle Ages with its emphsis on the sacred over the secular as discussed by Aquinas would serve as a model to reject in the formation of self-government within the American colonies. Finally, beginning with the Renaissance and Reformation and concluding with the development of classical liberalism in the early modern period of the 17th century. Representative democracy with its attention to limited government by social contract theory and the protections of individual political, social as well as economic liberties were fully infused within the nascent American colonial state.