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CommonwealthmenThe Commonwealthmen were a group of political thinkers in early 18th century Britain. They condemned corruption and lack of morality in British political life, theorizing that only civic virtue could protect a country of despotism and ruin. The most noted commonwealthmen were John Trenchard and Thomas Gordon, who wrote the seminal work Cato's Letters between 1720 and 1723. Although few British found the words of the commonwealthmen sufficient reason to change their system of government, these writers had a powerful effect on British colonial America. It is estimated that half the private libraries in the American Colonies held bound volumes of Cato's Letters on their shelves. The Commonwealthman ideas of civic virtue, freedom, and government carefully regulated and controlled by the people were major priciples in the ideology of the American Revolution.
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