from locke to barack: who gets to be a ‘full american’?

From Locke To Barack: Who Gets To Be A ‘Full

American’?

“No More Kings” (Schoolhouse Rock)

John Locke’s Two Treatises of Government (1690)

Sec. 87. Man being born, as has been proved, with a title to perfect freedom, and an uncontrolled enjoyment of all the rights and privileges of the law of nature, equally with any other man, or number of men in the world, hath by nature a power, not only to preserve his property, that is, his life, liberty and estate, against the injuries and attempts of other men; but to judge of, and punish the breaches of that law in others, as he is persuaded the offence deserves, even with death itself, in crimes where the heinousness of the fact, in his opinion, requires it. But because no political society can be, nor subsist, without having in itself the power to preserve the property, and in order thereunto, punish the offences of all those of that society; there, and there only is political society, where every one of the members hath quitted this natural power, resigned it up into the hands of the community in all cases that exclude him not from appealing for protection to the law…

John Locke’s Two Treatises of Government (1690)

Sec. 94. …the people finding their properties not secure under the government, as then it was, (whereas government has no other end but the preservation of property) could never be safe nor at rest, nor think themselves in civil society, till the legislature was placed in collective bodies of men, call them senate, parliament, or what you please...

The Declaration of Independence (1776)

[Breakup Letter & Birth Certificate]

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…

Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness




Liberty (Traditional Definition): Freedom from restraint to do as you wish. A lack of barriers, removal of opposition, no one to stop you.

This is sometimes called “Negative Liberty” because it is based on the ABSENCE of

restriction.




Liberty (Traditional Definition): Freedom from restraint to do as you wish. A lack of barriers, removal of opposition, no one to stop you.

“Positive Liberty”: The actual opportunity, ability, or resources to do something.



‘Negative’ vs. ‘Positive’ Liberty

Jennifer & Lysa

Aapti & Tsaro

Jennifer wants to be a Marine Biologist. Aapti saw a fish once and thought it was

cool. She wants to be a ‘fish doctor’.

Jennifer & Aapti have the same

Negative Liberty to become successful Marine Biologists.

There are NO BARRIERS.


Jennifer & Lysa

Aapti & Tsaro

Jennifer wants to be a Marine Biologist. Aapti saw a fish once and thought it was

cool. She wants to be a ‘fish doctor’.

Jennifer & Aapti do not, however, have the same Positive Liberty to accomplish

their goals.


There are those who would argue that our collective history has created serious imbalances in the ‘positive liberty’ of various groups.

If this is correct, it is unacceptable, and offensive to our collective ideals.

The challenge comes in identifying the problem clearly, and trying to address it fairly and equitably.


We Like The Same Words.So, That’s Good.

Fairness

Opportunity

Freedom

EqualityChoice


We Don’t Always Agree on the Definitions. So That’s Tricky.

Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness (?)



What Now? We’ve declared our rights and our

independence from England. We’re determined to set up a government

based on ‘Social Contract’, in which the government is merely an instrument of the people to protect those rights and that independence.

Who, exactly, gets to participate in this government—as members or as voters?

Alexander Hamilton (Quoting Blackston’s Commentaries on the Laws of England,

1775)

"If it were probable that every man would give his vote freely, and without influence of any kind, then, upon the true theory and genuine principles of liberty, every member of the community, however poor, should have a vote…

But since that can hardly be expected, in persons of indigent fortunes, or such as are under the immediate dominion of others, all popular states have been obliged to establish certain qualifications, whereby, some who are suspected to have no will of their own, are excluded from voting; in order to set other individuals, whose wills may be supposed independent, more thoroughly upon a level with each other..."

James Madison (August 7, 1787) Speech in the

Constitutional Convention on Voting Rights

Viewing the subject in its merits alone, the freeholders [i.e., landowners] of the country would be the safest depositories of republican liberty. In future times the great majority of the people will not only be without landed, but any other sort of property. These will either combine under the influence of their common situation, in which case the rights of property and the public liberty will not be secure in their hands; or, which is more probable, they will become the tools of opulence and ambition, in which case there will be equal danger on another side.

John Adams to James Sullivan (26 May 1776)

It is certain in Theory, that the only moral Foundation of Government is the Consent of the People. But to what an Extent Shall We carry this Principle? Shall We Say, that every Individual of the Community, old and

young, male and female, as well as rich and poor, must consent, expressly to every Act of Legislation? No, you will Say. This is impossible. How then does the Right arise

in the Majority to govern the Minority, against their Will? Whence arises the Right of the Men to govern Women, without their

Consent? Whence the Right of the old to bind the Young, without theirs?

[In other words: “Why do some

people in a republic get to make decisions

which affect everyone?]


But why exclude Women? You will Say, because their Delicacy renders

them unfit for Practice and Experience, in the great Business of

Life, and the hardy Enterprizes of War, as well as the arduous Cares of State. Besides, their attention is So much engaged with the necessary

Nurture of their Children, that Nature has made them fittest for domestic

Cares. And Children have not Judgment or Will of their own. True.

[In other words…?]


But will not these Reasons apply to others? Is

it not equally true, that Men in general in every Society, who are wholly destitute of Property, are also too little acquainted with public Affairs to form a Right Judgment, and

too dependent upon other Men to have a Will of their own? If this is a Fact, if you give to

every Man, who has no Property, a Vote, will you not make a fine encouraging Provision for Corruption by your fundamental Law? Such is the Frailty of the human Heart, that very few

Men, who have no Property, have any Judgment of their own. They talk and vote as they are directed by Some Man of Property…


John Adams to James Sullivan (May 26, 1776)

The Same Reasoning, which will induce you to admit all Men, who have no

Property, to vote, with those who have… will prove that you ought to admit Women and Children: for generally

Speaking, Women and Children, have as good Judgment, and as independent Minds as those Men who are wholly

destitute of Property: these last being to all Intents and Purposes as much

dependent upon others, who will please to feed, cloath, and employ them, as Women are upon their Husbands, or

Children on their Parents…



…Power always follows Property… the Ballance of Power in a Society,

accompanies the Ballance of Property in Land. The only possible Way then of preserving the Ballance of Power on the side of equal Liberty and public Virtue, is to make the Acquisition of

Land easy to every Member of Society: to make a Division of the Land

into Small Quantities, So that the Multitude may be possessed of landed Estates. If the Multitude is possessed of the Ballance of real Estate, the Multitude will have the Ballance of Power, and in that Case the Multitude will take Care of the Liberty,

Virtue, and Interest of the Multitude in all Acts of Government.


Who Gets To Be A ‘Full American’? Those Who Prove Themselves On Their Own Land. Land is Essential for Democracy.

Land (Which is also “Property” and potentially “Wealth”) allows Independence and the Capability for Self-Determination

Thus, Land (Property/Wealth) Is Fundamental to Democracy as much as it is to Opportunity and the American Dream.

If there’s insufficient land…

Thomas Jefferson, Letter to Edmund Pendleton (August 26, 1776)

You seem to have misapprehended my proposition for the choice of a Senate. I had two things in view: to get the wisest men chosen, & to make them perfectly independent when chosen. I have ever observed that a choice by the people themselves is not generally distinguished for it's wisdom. This first secretion from them is usually crude & heterogeneous. But give to those so chosen by the people a second choice themselves, & they generally will chuse wise men…


Who Can We Trust To Make Important Decisions?

Thomas Jefferson, Letter to Edmund Pendleton

(August 26, 1776)

In general I believe the decisions of the people, in a body, will be more honest & more disinterested than those of wealthy

men: & I can never doubt an attachment to his country in any man who has his family &

peculium in it: -- Now as to the representative house which ought to be so

constructed as to answer that character truly. I was for extending the right of

suffrage (or in other words the rights of a citizen) to all who had a permanent

intention of living in the country. Take what circumstances you please as evidence of this, either the having resided a certain

time, or having a family, or having property, any or all of them.


Who Gets To Be A ‘Full American’? Those Who Have A Vested Interest in the Nation’s Success. Land is Essential for Democracy.

Because Land (Wealth) allows Independence and the Capability for Self-Determination

Because Land (Wealth) Indicates a ‘Vested Interest’ in the Success of the Whole

Thus, Land (Wealth) Is Fundamental to Democracy as much as it is to Opportunity and the American Dream.

If there’s insufficient land…?

Thomas Jefferson on Agriculture

"Those who labor in the earth are the chosen people of God, if ever He had a chosen people, whose breasts He has made his peculiar deposit for

substantial and genuine virtue. It is the focus in which he keeps alive that

sacred fire which otherwise might escape from the face of the earth. Corruption of morals in the mass of

cultivators is a phenomenon of which no age nor nation has furnished an

example." (Notes on Virginia, 1782)


“Agriculture… is our wisest pursuit, because it will in the end contribute

most to real wealth, good morals and happiness. The wealth acquired by

speculation and plunder, is fugacious in its nature, and fills society with

the spirit of gambling. The moderate and sure income of husbandry,

begets permanent improvement, quiet life, and orderly conduct both

public and private.”

(Letter to George Washington, 1787)


"I think our governments will remain virtuous for many centuries as long as they are chiefly agricultural; and this will be as long as there shall be vacant lands in any part of America. When they get piled upon one another in large cities as in Europe, they will become corrupt as in Europe."

(Letter to James Madison, 1787)

Land Is Essential Because…

It indicates independence and capability for self-determination

It establishes a vested interest in the nation’s success.

It’s the foundational source of opportunity. Land Agriculture Purity & Character It is thus essential for democracy as well as

pursuit of the American Dream.

The Articles of Confederation (Agreed to by Congress November 15, 1777;

Ratified and in force, March 1, 1781)

Article I. The Stile of this Confederacy shall be "The United States of America."

Article II. Each state retains its sovereignty, freedom, and independence, and every power, jurisdiction, and right, which is not by this Confederation expressly delegated to the United States, in Congress assembled.

Article III. The said States hereby severally enter into a firm league of friendship with each other, for their common defense, the security of their liberties, and their mutual and general welfare, binding themselves to assist each other, against all force offered to, or attacks made upon them, or any of them, on account of religion, sovereignty, trade, or any other pretense whatever.

Article IV. The better to secure and perpetuate mutual friendship and intercourse among the people of the different States in this Union, the free inhabitants of each of these States, paupers, vagabonds, and fugitives from justice excepted, shall be entitled to all privileges and immunities of free citizens in the several States...

Andrew Jackson Highlights(President 1829 – 1837)

• Inauguration Festivities

Irony?



• Marriage to Rachel Donelson




• “The Spoils System” (Patronage)





• The Bank War





• The Bank War

• The Specie Circular (Land)





• The Bank War


• The Veto





• The Bank War


• The Veto

• But the 2 Biggest Issues for which Jackson is remembered were…

“Indian Removal” (1830s)

“Jacksonian Democracy”

How Are These Two Issues Related?

Alexis de Tocqueville Democracy in America (1835)

“This is what occurred in America; when the Democratic

Party got the upper hand, it took exclusive possession of the

conduct of affairs, and from that time the laws and the customs of society have been adapted to its caprices.

At the present day the more affluent classes of society have

no influence in political affairs; and wealth, far from

conferring a right, is rather a cause of unpopularity than a means

of attaining power… They submit to this state of things

as an irremediable evil, but they are careful not to show that

they are galled by its continuance; one often hears them

laud the advantages of a republican government and

democratic institutions when they are in public…”

Alexis de Tocqueville Democracy in America (1835)

“Mark, for instance, that opulent citizen, who is as anxious as

a Jew of the Middle Ages to conceal his wealth. His dress is

plain, his demeanor unassuming; but the interior of his dwelling glitters with luxury, and none but a few

chosen guests, whom he haughtily styles his equals, are

allowed to penetrate into this sanctuary… But the same

individual crosses the city… in the center of traffic, where

everyone may accost him who pleases. If he meets his cobbler on the

way, they stop and converse; the two citizens discuss the

affairs of the state and shake hands before they part…”

“Manifest Destiny”

Closing Thoughts?

from locke to barack: who gets to be a ‘full american’?

Documents

treatises of government

property property

form of government

new government life

preservation of property

political society

number of men

civil society