Il termine settennale: prime declinazioni anglo-americane

The essay focuses on the Septennial Act, with respect to its political causes and context, as they have been detected by the different approach of historical studies, and to the significance of the seven-year duration of Parliament, considering the political debate that developed on the topic in the meantime and during the long Whig predominance. Secondly, it moves to the Convention of Philadelphia proceedings to trace the reasons initially playing in favor of the septennial mandate for the senators and the president and its eventually being discarded by the majority. The direct sources testify the importance of the topic and the ambivalent role played in these choices by the British model.