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Article: Julius Caesar.(Play)
- Article from:
- Junior Scholastic
- Article date:
- December 11, 2000
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2000 Scholastic, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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He increased Rome's Power and territory. But his rule helped end the Roman Republic.
When America's Founding Fathers wrote the Constitution, they created a republic--a government whose leaders are elected by the people. But the Founding Fathers were not at all sure that the new government would last. When the Constitutional Convention ended in Philadelphia in 1787, a woman asked Benjamin Franklin what kind of government we would have. "A republic" he answered, "if you can keep it."
Franklin and the other Founding Fathers were students of history. They knew that most republics had ended with a king or emperor taking power.
They only had to look ...