The constitution reflects the principle republicanism because it divides the legislative branch into two houses of elected officials.
High mountains and access to water (the sea, not rivers) meant that
navies were critical for war and trade.
This also meant that the different city states of Ancient Greece were
physically separated from each other.
This allowed each culture to have similarities (like language and
religion), but also significant differences like the Spartan vs. Athens
systems. This also led to a particular
type of farming and a limited ability to fight in open plains. Hence the Hoplite system with phalanxes
became dominant.
Judicial Review refers to the ability of the Supreme Court to deem a law unconstitutional, meaning that it puts a check on the legislature, which is import to ensure liberty.
Presidential Reconstruction
In 1865 President Andrew Johnson implemented a plan of Reconstruction that gave the white South a free hand in regulating the transition from slavery to freedom and offered no role to blacks in the politics of the South. The conduct of the governments he established turned many Northerners against the president's policies.
The end of the Civil War found the nation without a settled Reconstruction policy.
In May 1865, President Andrew Johnson offered a pardon to all white Southerners except Confederate leaders and wealthy planters (although most of these later received individual pardons), and authorized them to create new governments.
