British and American Foundings of Parliamentary Science, 1774–1801

Upon declaring independence from Britain, the United States Congress urgently needed to establish its credentials as a legitimate government that could challenge the claims of the British Crown. In large measure this legitimacy rested upon setting in place the procedural and legal structures upon which all claims of governmental authority rest. This book explores how the nascent USA rapidly built up a system of parliamentary procedure that borrowed heavily from the British government it sought to replace.