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Early Western Civilization Lecture #15. Absolutism and Constitutionalism 1589-1740. Themes. New forms of government developed in the 1600s to replace the feudal political system. Constitutionalism became one of the marks of modernity and led to increasing democracy. Henry IV of France.
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Early Western CivilizationLecture #15 Absolutism and Constitutionalism 1589-1740
Themes • New forms of government developed in the 1600s to replace the feudal political system. • Constitutionalism became one of the marks of modernity and led to increasing democracy.
Jean Colbert and Mercantilism • Louis XIV’s Finance minister. • Defined wealth as simply gold and silver. • There is only a finite amount of gold and silver in the world. • For France to have more wealth, it has to take it from another country. • Increase exports and decrease imports: *Manufacture more domestic goods. *Raise the tariff. *Force colonies to trade only with the mother country.
Chopping down this tree signifies the end of royal authority, stability, the Magna Charta, and the rule of law. As pigs graze (representing the unconcerned common people), being fattened for slaughter, Oliver Cromwell, the lord protector who also controlled the army, quotes Scripture while his feet are in hell. This cartoon of 1649 is a royalist view of the collapse of Charles I's government and the rule of Cromwell. "The Royall Oake of Brittayne" Courtesy of the Trustees of the British Museum
English Bill of Rights • When was this bill passed? What events led to its passage? • Whose rights were most protected in this bill? In what ways? • Whose rights were most constricted? In what ways? • How was this bill similar to or different from the U.S. Bill of Rights (First 10 amendments to the Constitution)?
John Locke’s Second Treatise on Government • When did Locke write this essay? What had just happened in England? • According to Locke, what was the purpose of government? • What gave a government the right to rule? • When should the people rebel against the government? Why? • How did argument different from the argument put forth by Hobbes in The Leviathan?
John Locke • Rulers govern with the consent of the governed. • All citizens have certain natural rights: Life, Liberty, & Property. • When government fails to protect these rights, then the people may replace that government. • Government can only raise taxes with consent of the people through their representatives in Parliament