Freedoms II Midterm Flashcards
What are the four themes present in the American founding and give examples for each?
1) Classical Republicanism - Civic Greatness becomes an aspiration. (Plutarch’s Lives of the Caesars becomes the second most read educational book next to the Bible/George Washington putting on a production of Cato at Valley Forge and identifying with Cato.)
2) Lockean Liberalism - Pulls concepts in like the state of nature and the social contract into the nation’s founding documents. (The language of natural rights and the state of nature is abundant in founding documents and dialogue.)
3) Protestant Christianity - Orthodoxy is starting to be questioned among the educated members of society. (Denying the Trinity and embracing Unitarianism and Antisupernaturalism and the Jefferson Bible is a great example of this phenomenon.) New England has a heavy Calvinist influence and founding of Plymouth colony is heavily affected by religion.
4) English Common Law - The American colonies first experiment in self-government during the period of salutary neglect occurs under the theory of English Common Law. When the colonies initially petition the King for their rights in the Petition of Right (Sir Edward Koch in 1628) and the Boston Declaration of Rights (in 1689), there is the belief that they have the rights of Englishmen and those rights are being violated.
Who are the three main British empiricists? Trace empiricism from its founding to its logical conclusion.
The three main British empiricists are Hobbes, Locke, and David Hume. (Hume is technically Scottish, so booo.) Empiricism begins and at its core is the notion that all knowledge is rooted in sense impression. (We can only know what we can observe for ourselves.) Hume comes to skepticism and the conclusion that books about theology and metaphysics should be burned because those subjects are not rooted in empirical data.
Describe the Whig view of history and trace its ideological progression and note its major advocates.
History is viewed as a triumphant march of freedom. Hegel’s philosophy of history is a main proponent of this view. (Freedom, in this context, is not used as simply a measure of consumer possibility. We are not more free just because we can choose between kindles.) It starts with on the emperor being free in ancient times, and in the Greek and roman times only some are free, and the Germans and Europeans finally realize all are free. The telos of the world is freedom. The term “Whig view of history” was coined by Butterfield and generally is optimistic about the trend of history towards pinnacle. Even Fukuyama agrees in “The End of History” where he argues that western liberalism no longer has an ideological opponent after the fall of the Soviet Union.
Describe the conditions present in the Feudal world.
1) Rooted in Land and Nobility - Peasants are tied to the land and the nobility cannot sell land or remove the peasants. (A mutual responsibility exists between the two.)
2) A landed church with spiritual power via the administration of the sacraments and the power of excommunication.
List the three factions fighting for sovereignty in the Feudal World. Describe how each attempts to gain power and the consequences.
1) The King - Attempts to increase the number of nobles to create loyal followers and dilute the current nobility. Wants to fight wars to increase power.
2) The Church - Attempts to beat the King under Henry II. Murder of Thomas a Beckett is important to note. Loses power via the movement of the church from one unified body under the pope to national churches (Protestant Reformation).
3) The Nobility - Win against the King through the Magna Carta. King has to go to them for knights and resources to fight wars.
Under what type of Kings do revolutions occur?
Weak Kings, not strong Kings.
What are the two seemingly paradoxical descriptions of power?
1) A social necessity - You can’t have society without it.
2) A Social Menace - It’ll burn you.
What are the three technologies discussed to centralized power? Define technology.
Technology - a device by which power is expanded.
1) War - In Medieval times and modern times.
2) Conscription into a national army
3) Direct Taxation.
What is the final question De Tocqueville proposes regarding equality?
Will we have either equality and freedom or equality and servitude. Either way, we will have equality.
Describe the change in the view of law during the Feudal period and the impacts that has.
The change from a higher law that constrains Kings to a law that is based on personal will expands power from Divine sovereignty to popular sovereignty. The ramifications are the people now make law and what the people say just becomes legal positivism. What can check the people then in democratic states?
How do the Founders attempt to solve the problem that arises when the view of law fundamentally changes? Give examples.
Create internal solutions that deal with the structure of government, not the entire cultural of society (like the French Revolution). Create a Separation of Powers that attempts to prevent power from expanding further.
What year was the Magna Carta signed?
1215 AD
Summarize the Magna Carta and why it mattered.
The Magna Carta does not assert anything new, only what already exists. (“Affirms What is Ancient”) It was a signal that King John lost his fight with the nobility after his attempt to expand power. The limits placed on the King’s power are no taxation without consent from someone (later parliament and evidenced in the revolution’s phrase no taxation without representation.)
Describe the condition of Europe and why the New World was alluring.
In Europe, there is no frontier. Land stays within the family and peasants are bound to the land. If you aren’t a firstborn you either study law, join the church, or join the military. The new world becomes an outlet for aristocratic sons with no other place to go and provides new means of wealth and advancement. Boomers are looking for the next big economic opportunity (Jamestown) and Stickers are looking to put down lasting roots like the Puritans. (Jamestown.)
When is the colony of Jamestown founded?
1607.
Briefly describe the founding of Jamestown and important dates and motives in its history.
The initial motivation for founding Jamestown of economic in nature. People wanted to find gold, silver, or a quicker trade route to India. It was reflected in how quickly the settlement was formed without attention to detail. (Like the absence of crops or the fact that it was in a malarial swamp or there were few women to create a self-sustaining population without continuous immigration.) This led to near starvation and a loss of basic trust in the colony. But Rolfe took over and introduced Tobacco from Trinidad and they make a permanent settlement. In 1614, Rolfe marries Pocahontas and in 1619 the first African slaves are brought to Jamestown.
Summarize the Virginia Articles, Laws, and Orders.
Closely resembling martial law. Many things, such as unreasonable prices, theft, lying, and sodomy are punishable by death. However, this imposition of strict law leads to order in the colony and de facto self-government springs from Salutary Neglect.
Who termed the phrase “Salutary Neglect”?
Edmund Burke.
When were the Virginia Articles, Laws, and Orders written?
(1610-1611)
Describe the natural aristocracy in America and what It arises from.
The original ideal character in medieval times was the knight. An educated warrior, so to speak. However, the new ideal character was the gentleman. The gentleman was a class tied to the land and educated liberally. These men were capable of broad thought. Religion had an influence on the gentleman to give him temperance and see himself as a part of tradition.
When is the Plymouth colony founded?
September 16, 1620.
Summarize the Mayflower compact.
The self-understand as the Israelites entering the promised land so the compact is filled with providential language and covenant terms. They want to form a civil body politic that isn’t Utopian, but the best they can do. Specifically, just and equal laws with everyone equal under the law. Encompassed Puritan theology that had a low view of human goodness. This was a covenant, not a constitution.
Summarize the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut.
Its the first constitution in America and it has the goal of peace and unity through an orderly and decent government. There’s no distinction between church and state and no reference to rights. It’s governed via a representative assembly.
What year were the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut Published?
1639.
Summarize the Massachusetts Body of Liberties.
It is the first bill of rights in the new world. Argues that rights are inherited to them as Englishmen and that those rights (life, equal law, property, no double jeopardy, no cruel and unusual punishment, No whipping a gentleman) are qualified and not absolute. Has a reference to religion and reason working in tandem..
Describe the English context of the colonies in the early 1600s.
Colonies thought of themselves as English but 8 years after Plymouth, Charles I demands taxes and circumvents the parliamentary process to do so and forces the quartering of troops.
When was the Petition of Right published?
1628.
Summarize the Petition of Right.
Looks to ancient rights in tradition such as those in the Magna carta and further back, These actions violate the reason and franchise of the land.
What impact does the Petition of Right and Charles I response to that petition have on the near future in England?
Charles I concedes to the petition of right and is later executed in 1649. Monarchy is resurrected in 1660 with Charles II. In 1685, James II, a catholic who is a weaker King who again attempts to circumvent parliament.
How do the colonies respond to the attempts of James II to increase his power?
Draft the Boston Declaration of Grievances
When was the Boston declaration of grievances published?
1689.
Summarize the Boston Declaration of Grievances.
Colonists are loyal to the King. The rights of Englishmen follow the colonists to the colonies. Government is violating the Magna Carta. James abdicates and William and Mary agrees to a Bill of Rights.
When is the English Bill of Rights written?
1689.
Summarize the English Bill of Rights.
Starts with a Preamble to establish the legitimacy of the document. Then lists a train of abuses and then makes a declaration. (Similar in Structure to the DOI) The abuses include a standing army and the infringement of free speech. .
What else is published in 1689 of note?
Locke’s second treatise on government.
Briefly summarize Locke’s second treatise.
There is a right to revolution and the right of the people. The state of nature needs to be left and society is highly individualistic. Locke heavily emphasizes property.
When do Locke’s ideas reach the colonies?
Around 1760s.
When is the Stamp Act Passed?
1765.
Summarize the Stamp Act.
There is a tax instituted because of Britain’s defense of the colonies. The tax was on printed items and had to be paid in British coinage.
When did the Resolutions of the Virginia House of Burgesses pass?
1765.
Summarize the Resolutions of the Virginia House of Burgesses.
The House insists on having the rights of Englishmen and being English while living in the colonies. They’ve governed themselves for 150 Years and now Britain wants to assert themselves. Colonists believe they cannot be represented in parliament. (Technological limitations have political ramifications.)
When was the Declaration of the Stamp Acts Congress written?
1765
Summarize the Declaration of the Stamp Acts Congress.
The rights of the colonists are viewed as inherited because of their English citizenship. The colonies cannot be represented by parliament but want a strong relationship with England.
When is the Stamp Act repealed?
March 1766.
What was the Act that accompanied the Stamp Act?
The Declaratory Act in 1766.
Summarize the Declaratory Act.
The colonies are subordinate to the crown and parliament. This is to send a message so other colonies won’t rebel.
When were the Townsend Acts passed?
1767.
Summarize the Townsend Acts.
An assertion of authority over the colonies. Were repealed the same day as the Boston Massacre in 1770.