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American Revolution. American Constitution. Tomas Hobbes Leviathan (1650) Nature of humans: power-seeking, cynical, selfish, depraved Suggested form of government: absolute monarchy, should be deposed if necessary Objective of government: protecting man from his nature. John Locke
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American Revolution American Constitution
Tomas Hobbes Leviathan(1650) Nature of humans: power-seeking, cynical, selfish, depraved Suggested form of government:absolute monarchy,should be deposedif necessary Objective of government: protecting man from his nature John Locke Two Treatises of Government (1690) Nature of humans: instinct for life, liberty and property Suggested form of government: a social contract; a servant; should be deposed if necessary Objective of government: safety, preservation of property Early political patterns: A Strong European Impact
THOMAS JEFFERSON:The Declaration of Independence • When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.—We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.—That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,—That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. [1]. Cf. John Locke, Second Treatise of Government, where he identified natural rights as those to “life, liberty, and estate [property].”
Question of sovereignty • The British believed that the British parliament is sovereign and has the right to tax unrepresented subjects (i.e. the idea of virtual representation); their aim was “to raise revenue in America for covering the expenses of defending, protecting and securing the same,” that America should contribute to the cost of its own government and defense.
Question of sovereignty • The colonists believed that NO taxes can be imposed without their own consent, i.e. without the decision of the local colonial assemblies (the idea of actual representation); • They denied taxation to regulate trade, denied the right to tax for revenue except by themselves.
Economic Incentives • Navigation Acts • Proclamation of 1763 & Quebec Act 1774 • Stamp Acts 1769
The proclamation, in effect, closed off the frontier to colonial expansion. The King and his council presented the proclamation as a measure to calm the fears of the Indians, who felt that the colonists would drive them from their lands as they expanded westward. Many in the colonies felt that the object was to pen them in along the Atlantic seaboard where they would be easier to regulate. No doubt there was a large measure of truth in both of these positions. Proclamation of 1763
Quebec Act 1774 • 1774 - Quebec Act passed by the British Parliament to institute a permanent administration in Canada replacing the temporary government created at the time of the Proclamation of 1763. It gave the French Canadians complete religious freedom and restored the French form of civil law. The Thirteen Colonies considered this law one of the Intolerable Acts , for it nullified many of the Western claims of the coast colonies by extending the boundaries of the province of Quebec to the Ohio River on the south and to the Mississippi River on the west. • Thé Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition • http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-QuebecAc.html
Thomas Paine (Thetford, England, 29 January 1737 – June 1809, New York City, USA) was a pamphleteer, revolutionary, radical, liberal and intellectual. Born in Great Britain, he lived in America, having migrated to the American colonies just in time to take part in the American Revolution, mainly as the author of the powerful, widely read pamphlet, Common Sense (1776), advocating independence for the American Colonies from the Kingdom of Great Britain and of The American Crisis, supporting the Revolution. (Wikipedia) Thomas Paine
Some notable elections • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1960_American_Presidential_election • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_election,_2000 • http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/
