In Part One of this course we've looked at the beginnings of the Democratic Idea in the age of Classic Greece. In Part Two, we looked at the way that Renaissance humanist thinkers ranging from John Winthrop to John Locke have tried to define what the function of Society is, using terms which suggest mutual aid and comfort (Winthrop), protection of property (Locke), and simple protection from each other (Hobbes).
In Part three we now focus more on the agencies of government... how they work to sustain the functions of a society. Actually, we've begun that a bit already. Winthrop's On liberty explored the relationship between the general population and the magistrate, or elected official.
Right Edmund Burke (1729-97), looking very statesmanlike. Clicking on his image will bring you to a website with a summary of his political and philosophical views.
This day we'll look at the document which marked the beginning of America's own revolution. No one doubts Thomas Jefferson's genius, but even a genius doesn't live in an intellectual vacuum. We have already noted Jefferson's debt to Lock and Hobbes. We will now look for evidence that Jefferson was also aware of the English Declaration of Rights, written nearly 100 years before the declaration of independence. We'll try to see what connections exist between them. As you prepare, you'll want to look for similarities in form and similarities in content. What evidence is there that Jefferson was intimately familiar with the English Declaration?
If not, we'll begin next week with it.
Left. A painting records the presentation of the Declaration of Rights to King William and Queen Mary. You can distonguish between the Lords Spiritual and Lords Temporal by the dress. Clicking on the Illustration will take you to a web site devoted to the Glorious Revolution. Clicking on Declaration of Rights takes you to a second site with a broader historical scope.
An engraving of Thomas Jefferson, principal author of the Declaration of Indepence, diplomat, President, Slave Owner. Clicking on "Declaration of Independence", above, will take you to one of the earlier drafts of the Declaration, showing than everyone profits from rewriting, even the great rhetoriticians. In a yet earlier draft, the inalienable rights were described as "life, liberty, and property," indicating that Jefferson was a thoroughgoing disciple of Locke, at least in this instance.
Clicking on the illustration will take you to a website containing 2,700 quotations representing Jefferson's political thought, together with many links for further investigation.
#10, On Election to Parliament, by Edmund Burke. p. 38
in Greer,
Chapter 11, Revolutions of Liberalism and Nationalism,
The introduction and sections on the English and American Revolutions
pp. 442-452
You will remember that John Locke defended the idea of revolution in defense of the social contract and protection of the inalienable right to property and the "pursuit of happiness". The first of these documents is a product of the "Glorious Revolution" in England by which King James II was deposed and William of Orange and his wife, Mary, ascended to the throne of the United Kingdom.
If this document merely represented the replacement of one royal house by another it would be of minor importance. What it did was something quite different and of vital importance. It established the supremacey of Parliament over the Monarch, and turned England from Absolutism to Constitutionalism.
The second document is very brief. but it introduces you to the thought of one of England's most distinguished political philosophers and parliamentarians.
Burke seeks to answer the fundamental question concerning the relationship between electors and the elected. The paragraph structure in this small speech is very clear. Paragraphs two and three set out two theories of representation.
There is a second theme here, as well... one which is presented in the last paragraph. The distinction which Burke makes here is one Americans explicitly reject, and highlights one of the differences between national and federal systems.
in The Idea of Democracy, 
