lThe Super Lockean Tradition & The Puritan Soul and American Ideals - Mark The >>>> Revolution Founding - Emily >>>> The Constitution and It's Critics - Joelle >>>> Visions of American Future - Alana >>>> Jacksonianism: Democracy and Opportunity - Adrienne >>>> Slavery, Equality, and Rights - Cara >>>> Social Darwinism, Capitalism, and Imperialism - Elsa >>>> Populism and Other Responses to Industrialism - Sarah >>>> The Progressive Impulse - Ben >>>> New Deal Liberalism - Liza >>>> The Sixties Alex
The Revolutionary Founding Of Loyalists and Citizens: The Political Theory of the Revolution I. The Lockean and Republican Schools of Though a. 1765-1776 Revolutionary political thought begins to take direction using Lockean arguments i. Sam Adams borrows from Locke in his Rights of the Colonists (1772) in what Kramnick calls vintage Locke (108) 1. On religion: In as much that Mr. Locke has asserted, and proved beyond the possibility of contradiction on any solid ground, that such toleration ought to be extended to all whose doctrines are not subversive of society (109) 2. On natural rights of man: In the state of nature, every man is under God, Judge and sole Judge, of his own rights and the inquiries done him but he no more renounces his original right (109) 3. On government rule: Government was instituted for the purposes of common defense; and those who hold the reins of government have an equitable natural right to an honourable support from the same principle that the labourer is worthy of his hire but then the same community which they serve, ought to be assessors of their pay (110) 4. On religion: Adams claims the rights of the colonists as Christians can be found in a close reading of the New Testament By the Act of the British Parliament commonly called the Toleration Act, every subject in England except Papists was resorted to, and reestablished in, his natural right to worship God according to the dictates of his own conscience (111) 5. On the rights of the colonists: Colonists are well entitled to all the essential rights, liberties and privileges of men and free men, born in Britain, is manifest, not only from the Colony charter, in general, but acts of the British Parliament (112) b. There was also a contrary Republican political leaning at this time, which argued that Lockean thought placed too much emphasis on economic issues i. Colonists were motivated by civic spirit ii. British military was preventing colonies from governing themselves, living as free people iii. Revolution looked to ancient Greece and Rome for models of self-governance 1. Republican Greco-Roman thought is evident in Washington D.C. (busts of George Washington, architecture), and in the names of towns in new York (Ithaca, Rome) II. Anti-Revolutionary Thought: J. Boucher a. There were also those who opposed the Revolution and supported the British i. Some fled to Canada, some went back to Britain ii. Population of migrs who left U.S. at this time was 5 times as gret as the population that left France during the revolution b. J. Boucher, On Civil Liberty (1774) optional reading i. Anglican priest born in G.B., came to America in 1759 and served in churches in VA and MD 1. Preached against the rebellion and advocated loyalty 2. Fled to G.B. ii. A bitter indictment of American rebellion (disobedience): If [government] be
III.
less indulgent and less liberal than in reason it ought to be, still it is our duty not to disturb and destroy the peace of the community, by becoming refractory and rebellious subjects, and resisting the ordinances of God (113) 1. Rejects Lockean ideas, which he claims are the source of evil revolution 2. Says Americans are violating fundamentals of Christianity iii. Rejects ideals of the revolutionaries, calls writings of the times are loose and dangerous (115) iv. On equality: [The notion] that the whole human race is born equal; and that no man is naturally inferior, or, in any respect, subjected to another; and that he can be made subject to another only by his own consent is equally ill-founded and false both in its premises and conclusions Man differs from man in every thin that can be supposed to lead to supremacy and subjection as one star differs from another star in glory (115) v. Calls a government created by the consent of the people absurd (116) Citizen Tom Paine a. One of historys most epic figures i. Born in England as a Quaker as a staymaker (according to Wikipedia, the term staymaker is an obsolete definition of someone who made corsets) ii. Common Sense was published at a crucial moment when Americans didnt quite now how to proceed pamphlet cleared the air iii. According to Kramnick, Paine is the founding father that America wants to forget b. Common Sense, January 1776 i. Published anonymously, sold 500,000 copies ii. Echoes Locke in his vision of the role of government: Society in ever state is a blessing, but Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one (131) iii. On the evils of monarchy and heredity: 1. To the evil of monarchy we have added that of hereditary succession; and as the first is a degradation and lessening of ourselves, so the second, claimed as a matter of right, is an insult and imposition on posterity. For all men being originally equals, no one birth could have a right to set up his own family in perpetual preference to all others for ever One of the strongest natural proofs of the folly of hereditary right in Kings, is that nature disapproves it, otherwise she would not so frequently turn it into ridicule, by giving mankind an Ass for a Lion (136) 2. Could we take off the dark covering of antiquity and trace [kings] back to their first rise, we should find the first of them nothing better than the principal ruffian of some restless gang, whose savage manners of preeminence in subtilty obtained him the title of chief among the plunderers (137) iv. Paine exhibits a preoccupation with Americas historical mission v. On the present state of affairs: 1. In the following pages I offer nothing more than simple facts, plain arguments, and common sense: and have no other preliminaries to settle with the reader than that he will divest himself of prejudice and prepossession, and suffer his reason and his feelings to determine for themselves: that he will put on or rather that he will not put off the true character of a man, and generously enlarge his views beyond the present
day (139) 2. Optimism A new era for politics is struck a new method for thinking hath arisen (139) The American Revolution and the Democratization of America I. The Paradox of the American Revolution a. Fundamental democratization of American life that endures till this day i. Met deep ambivalence about democratization: 1. Fear of too much democracy 2. Democracy left unchecked and unhindered ii. Constitution tamed democracy b. According to Carl Becker, American Revolution was two events: i. War of Independence quest for independence from Britain for home rule ii. The quest for who will rule at home II. Home Rule vs. Rule at Home a. Four social groupings: i. New England and Mid-Atlantic coastal elits ii. Southern planters iii. Backwoodsmen iv. Urban artisans in the north b. War for home rule was lead by the commercial elites in the north and planter elites in the south i. Couldnt wage war on their own, needed to mobilize the masses for effective protest c. 1775-1785 America would be radicalized new social elites would come to power III. Radical Democracy and the American Revolution a. Landownership: i. Endtail was abolished ii. Primogeniture was abolished iii. Confiscation and redistribution of land left by tories (loyalists) the breakup of large landed properties, state distributed land in much smaller parcels b. Violence indicated a shift of power and democratic expression i. Often was directed against traditional elite dominance ii. Sons of Liberty (secret organization of American patriots) used violence to express iii. Urban riots were directed at merchants iv. Tarring and feathering v. Lynching originated in VA during American Revolution c. New men vs. traditional elites i. Revolution was a lesson for the masses farmers could take charge ii. Surrender at Yorktown Cornwallis was defeated by American farmers iii. Dramatic shift in those elected to legislatures were newmen common man replaced the elites who had brought about the revolution iv. 1776-1786 most democratic period in American history d. The Articles of Confederation i. Power was not at the center by at the periphery of the 13 states no president, no senate = power was at the state level ii. Within states, power resided in popularly elected state legislature the politics of liberty
iii. Direct democracy will of the people expressed through laws iv. Some people were denied their will to express v. Articles preserved the sovereignty and independence of the states, did not give the central government the power to control commerce and taxation e. A peoples government and redistributive state policies i. State legislatures were tyrants in libertys cloak seen as unjust ii. Madison state actions were schemes of injustice, Federalist papers iii. 1786 leaders were worried Revolution had unleashed a democratic monster f. Shays Rebellion, Northern Mass. Shays and farmer army sought to burn court records that said who owned what i. Angered by excessive debt and taxes ii. Called for a reevaluation of Articles of Confederation, impetus for Constitutional Convention, which began in May 1787 The Constitution and Its Critics Hamilton and Madison called a constitutional convention When: 1787 Where: Philadelphia Who: Every state except Rhode Island Why: To discuss the failings of the Articles of Confederation People who wanted to remedy the Articles worried about its 1) Lack of power in the central government and its inability to raise tax or regulate commerce (economic chaos). 2) The extent to which too much power was given to state legislatures that were producing radically egalitarian policies. The Constitution took care of BOTH problems IV. Transfer of power from the periphery to the center: Senate and House of Representatives V. Creation of strong national legislature: President and Judiciary The best symbol of the revolution was the power that it gave to the President. He was a legislature who could single-handedly veto legislative laws. He was the Commander in Chief and the Chief Magistrate who could pardon people. He could appoint all federal judges and make all treaties. Originally, there were no limits on office term James Madison = architect of the American Constitution Madisons brief biography: Elected to the first Congressional Congress in Virginia Author of the Bill of Rights Secretary of State under Jefferson Protg of Jefferson Clearly Lockean views about government o Government = neutral arbiter and common judge
Madisons great achievement is how to institutionalize limited government. He wanted government to be limited in its purpose, allow people to enjoy their properties and rights in peace. He constructed a government to protect rights and he divided government power by giving power to different parts of the government (two different Houses, checks and balances). Liberal, limited government could be achieved by dividing sovereignty and parceling it out to different branches of government. Madison also said that Americas national government would be a representative democracy, not a direct democracy. The new government, he said, would be a republic.
A pure democracy, by which I mean a society consisting of a small number of citizens, who assemble and administer the government in person, can admit of not cure for the mischiefs of faction. (Page 203) The drafters and the defenders of the Constitution = Federalists The opponents of the Constitution = Anti-Federalists John Lansing of New York was a stanch critic of the Constitution. He said, It is a triple-head monster, deep and wicked conspiracy against the free people Both sides agreed that it was a transfer of power from the many to the few. Both sides also acknowledged that the Constitution involved an elite, anti-democratic rejection of the Democratic, egalitarian politics of the Articles period. Those in favor of the Constitution, wanted power transferred from the many to the few; wanted to stop the common man and wanted a government dominated by the rule of social betters. Those opposed didnt want power moved from the many to the few; didnt want to end the rule of ordinary, common people. Filter theory of democracy (Hamiltons proposal): government should filter the wishes of the people through several, wiser people who have been elected. Republican government over a large country would refine and enlarge the public views by passing them through a chosen body of citizens; Hamilton assumed that the common man would be deferential to people he recognized were better than he was. The effect of the first difference is, on the one hand, to refine and enlarge the public views, by passing them throw the medium of a chosen body of citizens, whose wisdom may best discern the true interest of their country, and whose patriotism and love of justice will be least likely to sacrifice it to temporary or partial considerations (Page 203). Anti-federalists took a different perspective and preferred that there were no representatives. Government should be represented by people like themselves; government should mirror the people they are representing. Representatives should have the same views and interests as their constituents. A representatives system should not seek brilliant talent, but a saneness. Believed that the new Constitution would exclude the middle folk. Federalists = richer, well-educated, sophisticated, younger (emerged after the Revolution) Anti-Federalists = less rich, less educated, provincial, older (emerged before the Revolution) Federalists America = secular, Lockean, commercial republic, moral beliefs are private and not part of public concern, government is about protecting property and keeping the peace (no moral purpose) Anti-federalists America = pre-liberal, older Christian commonwealth and Republican ideals, see government as serving the moral good of the community, not commercial, republic Surprisingly, the Anti-Federalists pushed the Bill of Rights, even though it was a manifesto protecting individual rights against majority rights. However, they saw it as a protection of the majority against the new, governmental minority (defense of people against a small elite group). Kramnick said that Federalist Paper #10 is the single most important text is American political thought: pages 199-205
The smaller the society, the fewer probably will be the distinct parties and interest composing it; the fewer the distinct parties and interest, the more frequently will a majority be found of the same party; and the smaller the number of individuals composing a majority, and the smaller the compass within which they are placed the more easily will they concert and execute their plans of oppression. (Page 204). By a faction, I understand a number of citizens, whether amounting to a majority or minority of the whole, who are united and actuated by some common impulse of passion, or of interest, adverse to the rights of other citizens or to the permanent and aggregate interests of the community. (Page 200)
Visions of the American Future (September 25- October 2) reading summary Alexander Hamilton: (secretary of the treasury) IV. First Report on Public Credit (1790) p. 297- 304 a. Context: The States and National government accumulated an enormous amount of debt during the Revolutionary War b. Hamilton believed that national credit should be well established and trusted i. This occurs through good faith and legitimate contracts c. Public credit would: Justify and preserve their confidence; to promote the increasing respectability of the American name; to answer the calls of justice; to restore landed property to its due value to furnish new resources, both to agriculture and commerce; to cement more closely the union of the States; to add to their security against foreign attack; to establish public order on the basis of an upright and liberal policy (300) d. Plan to repay current holders of government securities (not original buyers), while the National government assumes the debts of the states V. Opinion on the Constitutionality of the Bank (1791) a. Hamiltons proposal to charter a national bank with the power to issue bank notes b. Believed that its creation was necessary and proper c. Supporter of loose constructivism, where the constitution included implied powers of government as well as expressed powers d. Creation of a bank is both implied and expressed: i. Relates to collection of taxes by increasing, standardizing, and improving circulation of currency ii. Direct relation to the borrowing of money e. Hamilton sees capitalism based on industries and factories with control through the center (the federal government) through manipulation of public credit VI. Report on Manufactures (1791) a. Plan to reduce dependency on imports of foreign manufactures and increase domestic manufacturing i. Reinforcement that increased industry would lead to increased American prosperity b. Economic independence to create nationalism i. Taxes on foreign goods George Washington: VII. Farewell Address (1796) a. Washington states that he will not consider a 3rd term b. Warns against sectionalism and the party system c. Warns against becoming both friends or enemies with another nation i. Wants to avoid foreign influence and entanglements John Marshall: VIII. Marbury vs. Madison (1803) a. Landmark case forms basis for judicial review of cases b. Decision: Marbury had the right to his commission but the court did not have the power to force Madison to deliver the commission Thomas Jefferson: (p 337-375)- Principles and Program IX. Committed to religious toleration and the separation of church and state- created bill to establish religious liberty X. Despotic potential of legislatures- belief that all the powers of government (legislative,
executive, and judiciary) are concentrated in legislative bodys hands a. 173 despots would surely be as oppressive as oneAn elective despotism was not the government we fought for (340) b. wants each department to be independent which equal influence XI. Vision of free public education a. Where the most talented kids receive the most education (kids are gradually weeded out so everyone learns up to their potential) b. Supports a Natural Aristocracy of virtue and wisdom, rather than the Artificial Aristocracy of wealth and birth i. Worth and Genius would thus have been sought out from every condition of life (368) through these schools XII. Government univolvment in religion a. The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others. But it does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are 20 gods, or no god. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg(345) b. a wall of separation between Church and State (366) XIII. Agrarian ideal of virtuous American farmers a. those that labor the earth are the chosen people of god (347) b. City masses are dependent and have no property i. let our work shops remain in Europe (348) ii. The mobs of great cities add just so much to the support of pure government, as sores do to the strength of the human body (348) XIV. Opposition to a federal bank (strict constructionist view of the constitution where powers not delegated or prohibited by the US by the constitution are reserved for the states or the people) a. A federal bank was not enumerated in the constitution XV. In First Inaugural Address a. Conciliatory speech to ease tensions between Federalists and Republicans b. Small central government i. A wise and frugal government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement (354) ii. Democratic party created as a response to the seemingly regal aspirations in Washington XVI. Indians must abandon hunting and become farmers to be virtuous XVII. Proposes a progressive tax on land to lessen inequality XVIII. Belief in periodic revolutions to refresh the government a. And what country can preserve its liberties if its rulers are not warned from time to time that this people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take armsThe tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. (361) XIX. Enlightenment ideology a. Believes men are born naturally good b. Advocates progress and change, revision of the constitiution when necessary i. Laws and institutions must go hand in hand with the progress of the human mindWe might as well require a man to wear still the coat which fitted him when a boy, as civilized society to remain ever under the regimen of their barbarous ancestors. (372) XX. Notes on the State of Virginia (1784) a. Wants slavery abolished (although he never freed his 300 slaves upon his death)
b. Belief that blacks are by nature, not condition, inferior c. Idea to emancipate and relocate slaves so that they dont mix with whites
i.
Racial mixing would stain whites
Jacksonianism: Democracy and Opportunity Historical Setting of Jacksonianism: Democratization of America Development of a party system Increased role of party conventions Rapid growth of industrial and textile factories resulted in the development of a laboring population The Whigs and the American System Whigs saw Jackson as a tyrant and a king because of his attitudes towards the presidency and the veto Whigs central figures: Henry Clay and Daniel Webster Wanted protected tariffs to protect PA iron mills The Emergent American Spirit During the age of Jackson, a specific set of values emerged Tocqueville: hard work and dignity Striving for advancement and mobility Jacksonian Political Ideals Self-view that all Americans can be determined to improve their own conditions Equal rights for all, special privileges for none Dont advocate class war The Presidency J sees an activist concept of the office, with a strong and assertive figure Advocates a government that looks out for the majority Democracy and the people Producing people v. the monster bank Bank of the United States was the largest and most well known example of a corporate monopoly When bank needed renewal of its charter, Jackson vetoed it, calling the bank true evil.
Evil government and virtuous free society Jackson didnt like the Indians because they werent virtuous Lockean property owners. Therefore they were guilty of the idleness as the bank was Jackson and the removal of the Indians Jackson urged his troops to exterminate them Referred to Indians as cannibals Jacksonian Radicalism Jacksonianism and the working class: O. Brownson Class conflict and Christ: Christian socialism wedded to American individualism Brownson discusses systematic reform, Christianization Attacks privilege, hereditary inheritance Jacksonianism and anarchism: Thoreau Civil disobedience Essay on civil disobedience written by Thoreau in 1849 after being arrested for not paying taxes The government is best that governs least Wants all to resist civil law Communal state not individual state because majority rules Thoreau, Locke, and work Utterly individualist, never suggested any kind of cooperative solution Getting or making a living ceases to be the quality of a real person Work generates wealth but alienates the individual from his real self READINGS Henry Clay Wanted a strong central government to further economic development John Quincy Adams Cooke and Upshur Andrew Jackson First annual message to Congress: spoke in favor of a strong, assertive government that spoke for ordinary people. Demonstrated his frustration with elite ruling class not looking out for the will of the majority. Farewell address: Each state has the right to regulate itself. Classic statement on American populism. Bank veto message: constantly uses evil words. K says it might be on the final! Roger B. Taney George Bancroft Advocated direct election of the presidency, wanted to eliminate Electoral College because it disoriented popular will. The rich of the business community will never voluntarily consent to losing their elite privilege (454) Ralph W. Emerson Henry D. Thoreau Saw a capitalist state, was only concerned with buying and selling Entirely individualist Never suggested a cooperative solution Orestes Brownson Cognizant of inequities of factories (456) Sensitive to brutality of factory system, especially for women (457)
Mocks individuals who think they can change the system
VII. SLAVERY, EQUALITY, AND RIGHTS
Slavery and the Constitution XXI. American contradiction with slavery, it goes against the principles of Locke principles of freedom, rights and equality, and the institution of slavery XXII. Thomas Jefferson noted that the Declaration of Independence was a contradiction. a. The existence of slavery gave the colonists the servitude they feared from Great Britain i. To give into the British would put blacks & whites in America on the same level b. Slavery survived because African-Americans were seen as subhuman. XXIII. While slavery is never specifically mentioned in the Constitution there are 3 instances where the institution is acknowledged a. Article 1, Section 3 (171) three-fifths of all other persons compromise i. Northern delegates wanted slaves taxed as property even though they claimed to be opposed to slavery ii. Southern delegates wanted to have slaves counted as people for electoral votes and representation, despite their claims that slaves were property b. Article 1, Section 9 (175) Congress can regulate congress, but cannot prohibit slave trade for at least another 20 years (use of euphemism such persons) c. Article 4, Section 2 (179) Runaway slave law (no person held to service) XXIV. Free blacks were on a similar level as women, and Lincoln aspired for the blacks to be seen as secondary citizens like women no voting. Their fight together for rights is intricately linked throughout history. XXV. Elizabeth Cady Stanton wrote her own version of the Declaration of Independence; called for equal rights, equal opportunities, and equal treatment for men and women in politics, religion, and work.
a. b. We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men and women are created equal (529) How many of you have ever read even the laws concerning them that now disgrace your statute-books? In cruelty and tyranny, they are not surpassed by any slaveholding code in the Southern States; in fact they are worse, by just so far as woman, from her social position, refinement, and education is on a more equal ground with the oppressor (533) The prejudice against color, of which we hear so much, is no stronger than that against sex. It is produced by the same cause, and manifested very much in the same way. The Negros skin and the womens sex are both prima facie evidence that they were intended to be in subjection to the white Saxon man. (534) Just imagine an inhabitant of another planet entertaining himself some pleasant evening in searching over our great national compact, our Declaration of Independence, our Constitution, or some of our statute books; what would he think of those women and Negroes that much be so fenced in, so guarded against? Why, he would certainly suppose we were monsters, like those fabulous giants, or Brobdingnagians of olden times, so dangerous to civilized man, from our size, ferocity, and power. (534)
c.
d.
XXVI. Frederick Douglas great free slave involved in womens rights convention and abolitionist
movement; was well educated; he purchased his freedom; became an advisor to Lincoln; described slavery as dehumanizing; said all Americans were guilty of the crimes associated with slavery. i. In Lectures on Slavery he described and defined masters, the whip, how education is forbidden
b.
c.
d. e.
f.
g.
We say the present is a time when every colored man should ask himself the question, What am I doing to elevate and improve my condition, and that of my brethen at large? What we, the colored people, want, is character and this nobody can give us The whole American people are responsible for slavery, and must share, in its guilt and shame, with the most obdurate men-stealers of the south. What does the Declaration of Independence and its argument about inalienable rights mean to slaves? This 4th of July is yours, not mine. You may rejoice, I must mourn.
i.
Called attention to the hypocrisy of freedom in America
The feeling of the nation must be quickened; the conscience of the nation must be roused; the propriety of the nation must be startled; the hypocrisy of the nation must be exposed; and its crimes against God and man must be proclaimed and denounced.
XXVII.
David Walker free abolitionist, urged slaves to rebel; argued and tried to appeal to educated
people
a. Thought violence may be the only solution: therefore, I ask the whole American people, had I not
rather die, or be put to death than to be a slave to any tyrant, who takes not only my own, but my wife and childrens lives by inches? Yea, I would meet death with avidity far in preference to such servile submission to the murderous hands of tyrants. i. The whites [] are afraid that we, being men, and not brutes, will retaliate. Treat us like men and there is no danger but we will all live in peace and happiness together.
b.
XXVIII. Important to note that many Southerners saw slavery as evil, and were embarrassed by the institution. a. John C. Calhoun: This agitation has produced one happy effect at least; it has compelled us to the
South to look into the nature and character of this great institution, and to correct many false impressions that even we had entertained in relation to it. Many in the South once believed that it was a moral and political evil; that folly and delusion are gone; we see it now in its true light, and regard it as the most safe and stable basis for institutions in the world
i. Obviously Calhoun here is defending slavery, he sees it as a necessity XXIX. What were the southern arguments for slavery? a. Pro-slavery arguments utilized the Constitution to support their claims. They, like the abolitionists, used the Bible. [Both testaments of the Bible assume slavery, and Christ never disapproved of slavery.] Another mechanism for arguing slavery was sociological theory slavery stood for social stability and a perfectly ordered society where everyone knew their proper place and rank. i. Mud Sill Theory [Hammond] the enslavement of an inferior race incapable of freedom provides the necessary foundation for civilization and progress of a superior race (derived from the model of ancient Greece)
1. The greatest strength of the South arises from the harmony of her political and social
institutions. This harmony gives her a frame of society, the best in the world, and an extent of political freedom, combined with entire security, such as no other people ever enjoyed upon the face of the earth Hammond Hammond presented an argument about what makes the greatest civilizations on earth. There must be a class to do the menial duties, to perform the drudgery of life. That is, a class requiring but a low order of intellect and but little skill Hammond also compares slaves to Northern factory workers: The difference between us is, our slaves are hired for life and well compensated; there is no starvation, no begging, no want of employment among our people, and not too much employment either. Yours are hired by the day, not cared for, and scantily compensated, which may be proved in the most painful manner, at any hour in any street in any of your large towns basically saying slaves have it better off. There is no race of life for slaves. i. On the slaves: They are happy, content, unaspiring, and utterly incapable, from intellectual weakness, ever to give us any trouble by their aspirations they will not turn on the masters,
b. c.
like the Northern workers could.
XXX. George Fitzhugh proponent of the positive benefits of slavery. His writing is the single most
developed repudiation of Lockean liberal ideals of America that can be found in the writings of American political thought. He likened the Negroes to irresponsible children, in desperate need of protection and government a. He argues that free society and freedom have failed; individual rights must be subordinated to the community; slavery should be prevail. XXXI. Liberty and equality are new things under the sun. Men are not born with equal rights. If men were all born with equal rights then wed all be constant rivals, producing chaos. Subordination is the superior plan because it will bring peace. a. Darwinian struggle for existence: When we look to the vegetable, animal, and human kingdoms, we
discover in them all a constant conflict, war, or race of competition, the result of which is, that the weaker or less healthy genera, species, and individuals are continually displaced and exterminated by the stronger and more hardy. It is a means by which some contend Nature is perfecting her own work. We, however, witness the war, but do not see the improvement [] From the earliest date of recorded history [] the stronger or more cunning animals have been destroying the feebler [] to this propensity of the strong to
oppress and destroy the weak, government owes its existence. So strong is this propensity and so destructive to human existence, that man has never yet been found so savage as to be without government.
Government is necessary and good because without it people will destroy themselves. There was a rejection of the spirit of the Lockean ideal because Locke promoted competition, inquisitiveness, and a striving to win in the race of life. XXXII. Fitzhugh belittled Americas preoccupation with bettering ones condition
a. Selfishnesses is almost the only motive of human conduct with good and bad in free society where every man is taught that he may change and better his condition [] Those who better their condition or rise to higher places in society, do so generally by pulling down others or pushing them from their places.
i.
XXXIII.
Fitzhugh believed the workers were being exploited
necessities, the comforts, the luxuries, the pomp and splendor of the world; they create it all, and enjoy none of it.
a. They bear the whole weight of society on their shoulders; they are the producers and artificers of all the i. But slaves, they never die of hunger, they never want. The answer is feudalism! XXXIV. Fitzhugh critiqued Jefferson a. Fitzhugh was aware that his beliefs could be considered an injustice against Jeffersons idea of fundamental principles, but didnt think injustices really meant anything.
i. We would not restrict, control, or take away a single human right or liberty which experience showed was already sufficiently governed and restricted by public opinion. But we do believe that the slaveholding South is the only country on the globe that can safely tolerate the rights and liberties we have discussed. 1. We are the friend of popular government, but only so long as conservatism is the interest of the governing class. 2. We do not agree with the authors of the Declaration of Independence, that governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed.
XXXV. Fitzhugh also repudiated the laissez-faire ideal. His attitude towards government is a pre-liberal appreciation of government as a necessary force in society. The government, to Fitzhugh, is a police, a maintainer of social order and hierarchy, providing initiative and social cohesion that cannot come from free individuals in voluntary acts. Government was seen as the father in a family*, providing authority, command, and power.
a. There is too much of law and too little of government in this world
b. * - If the government is the father, and slaves the children, there will be no rivalry for employment, the state of dependence stops the war of competition. The constant dependency of slaves on their masters makes them never rivals, so Fitzhugh says there was never a man who did not like his slaves, and rarely a slave not devoted to his master. i. False image of loving, happy family XXXVI. John Calhoun argued in defense of minorities; defender of slavery; also believed in the idea of slaves as a big happy family. a. Doctrine of concurrent majority - an attempt to reconcile the principle of majority with the protection of minority rights.
b. We of the South will not, cannot surrender our institutions. To maintain the existing relations between the two races, inhabiting that section of the Union, is indispensable to the peace and happiness of both.
c. Anti-competition in the North: He saw an eager pursuit of gain which overspreads the land and which absorbs every faculty of the mind and every feeling of the heart. d. In A Disquisition on Government Calhoun uses Madison confrontation with Locke and faces a liberal dilemma of keeping the order of the government, while keeping it limited e. Believed in more than just the numerical minority, said that by just taking into consideration the numerical minority that we could not have a Constitutional government. Calhoun advises taking into consideration the interests within the community, taking the will of each interest rather than the individual i. With Calhouns concurrent majority there was a notion that no policy can pass if one interest vetoes it so slavery could remain due to Southern interests
ii. The most it can do, of itself, is to collect the sense of the greater number; that is, of the stronger interests, or combination of interests; and to assume this to be the sense of the community. It is
only when aided by a proper organism that it can collect the sense of the entire community of each and all of its interests; of each, thorough its appropriate organ, and of the whole, through all of them united.
XXXVII. Lincoln: mythic figure; from 1854 on he was attack slavery publicly
a. I hate it because of the monstrous injustice of slavery itself. I hate it because it deprives our republican example of its influence in the world enables the enemies of free institutions with plausibility, to taunt us as hypocrites
Slavery was wrong to Lincoln because it violated fundamental Lockean ideas and individual autonomy 1. Two groups who violate Lockean junction about work: American Indians [no notion of individual possession and hard work] and slave owners 2. His solution: free the slaves and send them to Liberia. He did NOT want them to political and social equals. XXXVIII. In Lincolns Speech on the Dred Scott Decision: Lincoln viewed the Declaration as setting a standard for universal equality for the benefit of future generations. a. Lincoln seemed to believe that the authors intended to include all men, but they did not intend to include men equal in all respects. Gradual unfolding of freedom and rights for all people slaves, then women, etc.
i.
i.
ii.
I think the authors of that notable instrument intended to include all men, but they did not intend to declare all men equal in all respects. They did not mean to say all were equal in color, size, intellect, moral developments, or social capacity. They defined with tolerable distinctness, in what respects they did consider all men created equal equal in certain inalienable rights, among which are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The assertion that all men were created equal was of no practical use in effecting our separation from Great Britain; and it was placed in the Declaration, not for that, but for future use.
XXXIX. Lincoln saw the Civil War as a punishment from God for slavery XL. Lincoln was not fully an abolitionist: I declare that I have no purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere
with the institution of slavery in the States where it exists. I believe I have no lawful right to do so, and I have no inclination to do so. a. There is a natural disgust in the minds of nearly all white people to the idea of an indiscriminate amalgamation of the white and black races.
b. He was opposed to the Western expansion of slavery. i. Why? So that the hard working former wage laborers with some small capital can set up farms and be independent for themselves. They would not be able to do that if slavery were allowed in the west because these hard workers would be displaced by slaves doing their work. This land in the West would aid the industrious laborer in moving through the stages of successor improving his condition. XLI. In the heart of Lincolns speeches were his beliefs in free labor and improving ones condition slavery was a denial of the fundamental idea of free labor
a. They proceed to consider whether it best that capital hire laborers, and thus induce them to work by their
own consent, or buy them, and drive them to do it, without their consent. Having proceeded so far, they naturally conclude that all laborers are naturally hired either laborers or slaves. They further assume that whoever is once a hired laborer, is fatally fixed in that condition for life; and thence again, that his condition is as bad as, or worse than, that of a slave. This is the mud sill theory. i. The opponents of the mud sill theory insist that there is not, of necessity, any such thing as the free hired laborer being fixed to that condition for life. Again with the promotion of improving condition free laborgives hope to all, and energy, and progress, and improvement of condition to all.
b.
XLII. Lincoln believed in the free laborer (related to Jacksons independent producer and Jeffersons
yeoman farmer) XLIII. In summary a. Elizabeth Cady Stanton argument against slavery; compared the plights of slaves and women; wrote her own Declaration
b. Abraham Lincoln didnt believe in full equality; wanted to send slaves away; said he never c. d. e. f.
intended to abolish slavery; would have kept slavery to avoid a war; his countrys fate was much more important than the fate of the slaves. Frederick Douglass supporter of womens rights; abolitionist; born a slave escaped educated; said blacks should want to advance themselves; called attention to the hypocrisy David Walker free black; urged slaves to rebel for their dignity; pamphlets; believed violence may the only answer to fight the inhumanity of slavery John C. Calhoun concurrent majority argued in defense of the South. Slaves and masters as one big happy family George Fitzhugh argued that slavery was much more humane than wage laboring. Said Negroes needed the control the masters gave them (likened them to children); capitalism creates social cannibalism that establishes war between all people; said blacks were happy to be slaves; was against government by consent John Hammond Mud Sill Theory; necessity of enslaving an inferior race;
g.
Social Darwinism, Capitalism, and Imperialism Main Ideas: Social Darwinism and Anglo Saxon Racism Race of Life Imperialism Problems with immigration America becoming more industrial o Rise from rags to riches, Horatio Alger o Survival of the fittest William Graham Sumner What Social Classes Owe to Each Other (1884) Preached Social Darwinist ideals of individual liberty and laissez faire and the middle-class Protestant values of hard work and traditional family life Was against aiding the poor because it prevented survival of the fittest and it undermined civil liberty Humanitarianism state action threatened the forgotten man and violated the primary social duty to mind ones own business and take care of ones own self o There is a school of writers who find a problem and demand a solution, then work to cure it o Those who are bound to solve the problems are those who are well-off, educated, respectable o Those who set the problem are those less fortunate o The state is really only a small group chosen in a haphazard way by the majority to perform services for everyone Not a good thing o What do social classes owe to each other? o What does the state owe to anybody except peace, order, and the guarantees of rights? o There are people that feel that they, if they dont have happiness, have a right to get it from other men o Fact is that people are at different places in their ills and there are those who want to remedy that o A society based on contract is the best; allows for a society of free and independent men o It is not the function of the state to make men happy; people must make themselves happy in their own way at their own risk Should be subject to no one No one has any duty to anyone in a free democracy except respect, courtesy, and goodwill o People assume that there is something metaphysical and sentimental about the government Not necessarily true o Wealth-power had been developed while the moral and social sanctions by which that power ought to be controlled have not yet been developed o Can democracy develop itself while curbing plutocracy at the same time? o There is hope in constitutional guarantees and the independent action of self-governing freeman o Everyone has a duty to take care of themselves o There is danger in interfering into others lives o Forgotten man, the man who is not given a voice, told to do something to help someone else This hurts the equilibrium o Natural rights: claims which some people have by prerogative on other people o Greatest social evil is jobbery (the conduct of public or official business for the sake of improper private gain) Always a victim somewhere; but plundering each other produces nothing Victim is the forgotten man Role of parent always falls on him He is working to rid society of jobbery Wants ambiguities on our institutions cleared up and liberty more fully realized o Rights should be equal, which lead to equal chance (provided or limited by the action of the society) o We owe it to each other to guarantee rights The Absurd Effort to Make the World Over (1984)
Social reforms = unnatural, prevents the inevitable Challenges the assertion that democracy creates greater social benefits than industrial capitalism does o Industrial organization controls us because we are in it o Great demand for men capable of managing great enterprises Capital is dependent on the skill of the captain of industry for the certainty and magnitude of its profits o No harm in large amounts of wealth by individuals o Democracy is a consequence of economic and sociological causes for our political vitality and vigor, for our industrial power and success o Things that will change the tide of society are great discoveries and inventions, reactions inside the social organism, and the changes made by cosmical forces o All man can do is record their course as they are carried along A Free man in a free democracy has no duty whatever toward other men of the same rank and standing, except respect, courtesy, and goodwillIn a free sate every man is held and expected to take care of himself and his family, to make no trouble for his neighbor, and to contribute his full share to public interests and common necessities (709-10). Every man and woman in society has one big duty. That is, to take care of his or her own self. This is a social duty 713 The danger of minding other peoples business is twofold. First there is the danger that a man may leave his own business unattended to; and, second, there is the danger of an impertinent interference with anothers affairs (714). I call C the forgotten man. 714 (A and B put their heads together and decide what C shall do for the worse-off D) The aggregation of large fortunes is not at all a thing to be regretted. On the contrary, it is a necessary conditions of many forms of social advance (710).
The Challenge of Facts Against socialism and schools of sentimental philosophy for ignoring and violating brute facts of nature (scarcity, competition, and necessity of work) Liberty under law, property rights, laissez-faire capitalism, and inequality were more natural responses to harsh facts of nature than utopian schemes of socialists (non-liberty, equality, and survival of the unfittest) Man is born under the necessity of sustaining the existence he has receive by an onerous struggle against nature, both to win what is essential to his life and toward off what is prejudicial to it. He is born under a burden and a necessity (725). Individualism important Competition is the law of nature Man should not be interfered with while using his own powers for his own welfare Industrial competition men vie for acquisition of material goods through frugality, energy, skill, temperance, and other industrial virtues Socialists believe that instead of studying the natural laws of nature they could organize society as they chose not possible Consolidation of Wealth: Economic Aspects (1902) The financial success of those at the top inevitably benefits those at the bottom o @ proves that large concentrations of wealth are a necessary and beneficial part of the evolutionary process
No man can acquire a million without helping a million men to increase their little fortunes all the way down through all the social grades (729) Wealthy men are a product of natural selection It is, therefore, a civil and political status; and tat notion has the freest institutions in which the garuntees of peace for the laborer and security for the capitalist are the highest. Liberty, therefore, does not by any means do away with the struggle for existence (726). The truth is that the social order is fixed by laws of nature precisely analogous to those of the physical order (726).
The Gospel of Wealth Andrew Carnegie Carnegie epitomized the self-made man
Bealieved that great individual wealth came from social responsibilities Defends the vast inequalities between the rich and poor as inevitable byproducts of indivudalism, private property, the law of accumulation of wealth, and the law of competition But, rich have an obligation to distribute the surplus of wealth for the benefit of society We owe material development to the law of competition Surplus wealth can be disposed of in these ways: o Given to family o Bequeathed for public purposes o Administered during the lives by its possessors Using the surpluses of wealth for common good sometimes can elevate the race It is the duty of the wealthy man to: o Provide for himself in a modest way o Provide for those who are dependent on him o Using his judgment, use his wealth to benefit the community
Speeches on Chinese Immigration 1882 James Slater Immigration to the US really began in the 1840s, but it was the Chinese, who went west to work in mining agriculture, and the railroad who were the first to face federal legal restrictions Slater and George argued that the it was necessary to place restrictions (Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882) on Chinese immigration in order to protect the dignity of labor and the cultural purity of the US from these hordes of heathens The westward march of the Caucasian had there met the same teeming hordes that generations ago gave a westward direction 894 o Key is teeming hordes what he really meant was yellow hordes Americans are now having to compete for jobs with the Chinese Points out how foreign they are o So numerous are they at home in their own country that existence among the lower orders of their people is, and has been for centuries, a struggle for existence, and through this ceaseless struggle they have developed into a race of people of such character and physical qualities as to be able to exist and thrive where and under conditions the white man would perish and die out 897 If it were true (which I deny) that this bill is in conflict with the logic of the political theories in regard to the rights of mankind, which have heretofore prevailed in this country, that is no insuperable objection to its passage I do deny that every measure, however necessary to the welfare and the happiness of the people of the USshould be condemned because it conflicts with the theories of a speculative and Utopian scheme for the administration of the affairs of this world. 898
Our Country Josiah Strong VI. Person who best married Anglo-Saxon racism and social Darwinism VII. Congreationalist minister VIII. Ardent supporter of imperialist expansion and tight restrictions on immigration IX. US had the role to spread western values throughout the world a. God had prepared the way for North Americans to achieve the highest civilization that the world has ever known in the Darwinian final competition of races X. The two great needs of mankind, that all men may be lifted up into the light of the highest Christian civilization, are, first, a pure, spiritual Christianity, and, second, civil liberty 901 XI. Americans, anglo-saxons, have an unequaled energy XII. It seems to be that God, with infinite wisdom and skill, is training the Anglo-Saxon race for an hour sure to come in the worlds futureThe unoccupied arable land of the earth are limited, and will soon be taken. The time is coming when the pressure of population on the means of subsitence will be felt here as it is now felt in Europe and Asia. Then will the world enter upon a new stage of its historythe final competition of the races, for which the Anglo-Saxon is being schooled 903-4 The Winning of the West
Teddy Roosevelt Expansionist vision Believed that different races have distinct historical destinies o The conquest of Indian territories was for the benefit of civilization and in the interest of mankind. The Indians were part of the inferior, unfit race. He confessed in 1886 I dont go as thinking the only good Indians are the dead Indians, but I believe 9/10 areThe most vicious cowboy has more moral principle than the average Indian No treaty could be satisfactory to the whites, no treaty served the needs of humanity and civilization, unless it gave the land to the Americans as unreservedly as any successful war 908 But for every dollar thus paid to thse great and powerful civilized commonweaelths, we have paid ten, for lands less valuable, to the chiefs and warriors of the red tribes. No oter conquering and colonizing nation has ever treated the original savage owners of the soil with such generosity as has the US 908 Whether this whites won the land by treaty, by armed conquest, orby a mixture of both, mattered comparatively little so long as the land was won. It was all-important that it should be won, for the benefit of civilization and in the interests of mankind 908-9 It doesnt make sense to have savages on these lands, for they dont know what to do with it Most fortunately, the hard, energetic, practical men who do the rough pioneer work of civilization in barbarous lands are not prone to false sentimentalityThe most ultimately righteous of all wars is a war with savages, though it is apt to be also the most terrible and inhuman[these war have ultimately] laid deep foundations for the future greatness of a mighty people 909 Literacy test for Immigrants Henry Cabot Lodge Wanted to preserve the intellectual and moral quality of American citizenship, which was being threatened by recent immigration for southern and eastern Euro nations Explained that the immigrants most likely to be excluded by the literacy test were members of races who are most alien to the great body of the people of the US in moral and intellectual character Mr. President, more precious even than forms of government are the mental and moral qualities which make what we call our race. While those stand unimpaired all is safe. When those decline all im imperiledThe gates which admit mean to the US and to citizenship in the great Republic should no longer be left unguarded. 914
The March of the Flag Beleveridge Not on the assigned reading, but in lecture Did not believe colonized people were capable of self-government Continued prosperity for gods chosen people required rejecting arguments of imperialisms critics It is a glorious history our God has bestowed upon His chosen people a history of a multiplying people 915 Today, we are making more than we can use. Therefore, we must find new markets for our produce, new occupation for our capital, new work for our laborThink of the thousands of American who will pour intp Hawaii and Porto Rico when the Republics laws cover those islands with justice and safety 917 o Material basis of imperialism After talking about all there is to be done in being imperialists, It is an hour to remember your duty to the home. It is a moment to realize the opportunities Fate has opened to this favored people and to you. 918 Fellow-American, we are Gods chosen peopleFor liberty and civilization and Gods promises fulfilled, the flag must henceforth be the symbol and the sign to all mankind 919
The Conquest of the US by Spain 1899 Sumner In the midst of the Spanish-American war, he gave this speech Many were in support of expansionism, many believed it was undermining American values of liberty and selfgovernment He gave this speech saying that American imperialism imperiled the principles of liberty and equality on which the nation was founded
Plessy v. Ferguson 1896 The supreme court upheld the segregation statutes that all southern states had in place by the 1890s
Separate but equal was ok
IX. POPULULISM AND RESPONSES TO INDUSTRIALISM Class Notes 11/6: The Populists and Populism XIII. The Historical Context a. The Republican Party was the principle party at the time because of its high tariff stance b. Between 1872-1892, there was nothing to distinguish between democrats and republicans c. The 2 parties were committed to a new business flow d. There was a reform movement in rural areas, which was the first serious challenge (in populism) to rule of business e. In the early 1890s, there was a great depression and many businesses failed f. There was an accumulation of discontent on American farms XIV. Currency and Conspiracy a. Debtors were inflators: they wanted to increase the money supply to pay off debt this would make $ cheaper to borrow b. Creditors wanted to keep the money supply smaller c. Farmers had lack of money could be solved by coining silver XV. The People and the Peoples Party a. In 1892, Ignatius Donnelly wrote the Peoples Party Platform in 1892 b. Claims that the country is in a state of Moral disarray: public opinion silences, businesses prostrated, homes covered with mortgages, labor impoverished, land concentrated in few hands of capitalists, urban workers denied the right to unionize c. Governmental injustice yields tramps and millionaires d. The value of silver had been demonetized to add to the purchasing power of gold e. The makings are for a culture of absolute despotism results are falling prices, impoverishment of the producing class, formation of rings f. Generous wrongs have been inflicted upon the suffering people g. The purpose of the peoples party: to restore the government back to the hands of the plain people where it originated. The purposes of the document are the same as those of the National Constitution: to form a more perfect union and establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote general welfare, secure the blessings of liberty for ourselves and our prosperity i. Required use of silver as currency free and unlimited coinage of silver and gold at the ratio of 16:1 ii. Wanted a national currency distributed to all people directly with a very low tax iii. Called for a graduated income tax (there was none) iv. Wealth belongs to those who created it v. Wanted nationalization of railroads vi. Nationalization of phone vii. Curbs on immigration viii. 8-hour work day ix. Urges people to not buy products by clothing manufacturers of Rochester because they are tyrannous x. Articles of political reform 1. Single term for president 2. Direct election of senators 3. Initiatives: citizens can propose bills to legislature 4. Refendums: Citizens can vote on single issues xi. Land should not be monopolized for speculative purposes, excess and should be reclaimed by the gov and held for actual settlers h. Hatred of city and people who live in it they were seen as rich aliens i. Jews were scene as foreigners (KKK emerged after civil war and was concerned with immigrant Catholics and Jews) j. Americanism/Nativism i. Hiram W. Evans: The Klans Fight for Americanism (1926) p. 981
1. He was a racist klan leader that believed that Americans were under attack by liberal intellectuals and foreign immigrants 2. He claimed that the klan represented a populist protest movement against the distressing political, economic and cultural changes that had displaced Nordic Americans from the positions they once occupied. 3. He claimed that un-American inhabitants were going against traditional moral and religious standards, the liberals were taking over industry and were coming to dominate the government 4. Thought city intellectuals were in cahoots with jews, blacks XVI. Bryant in 1896 Presidential Campaign a. Republican Party nominated William McKinley b. McKinley was the perfect business mans candidate many tariffs c. Stereotypical of a statesman d. By 1896, populists gained control of the democratic party e. *Free coinage of silver* f. WJB Speech i. Opposed social Darwinism which allows for unfit to survive ii. Opposed imperialism: didnt think it benefited regular people, only wealthy senators iii. Dramatic orator small town fervor opponent of industrialism, didnt want to ruin home of Midwestern values (American) iv. Asks Americans to object alien aristocracy v. Led crusade against the gold standard, was anti-Semitic against jews and bankers vi. Many thought such a victory would cause job losses vii. Many organized laborers supported him XVII. Populism and American Ideal a. Jackson wanted to minimize government b. Populists wanted an active government that expanded its power c. They wanted to better conditions and achieve individualistic American ideal d. NOT SOCIALIST e. Called for fairer life where producers would not win, not idle bankers Class Notes 11/11: Late 19th Century Response to Industrial Capitalism From Left Intellectuals o Henry Demarest Lloyd and the Commonwealth Repudiated ideas of social Darwinism as he thought solidarity and cooperation should replace competition and self-interest Launched a manifest against monopolies said they victimize people 767 768 last paragraph An age of gluttonous beyond digestion 765 Socialism based on cooperation (v. competition) 770- conscious cooperation and cooperatively produces is cooperatively enjoyed 772 A mutuality a mutual concern for one another, that which is cooperatively produced is cooperatively enjoyed; cooperative commonwealth He was involved in socialist circles and populist movement Into municipalization, cooperative commonwealth. Public ownership of means of production cities taking over public works, nationaization of RR o Edward Bellamy and Socialist Utopia National Interest. Created nationalist groups, wanted national control of industry. Ideas emphasize national interest over sector interest of business In the 1880s, there were many socialist clubs He emphasizes the intellectual image of collectivist America Looking Backwards is an American Utopian novel
He envisions the public spirit replacing the individual spirit: work was compulsory. Not socialist, however. America is NOT connected to a working class movement. National Warehouse: people could take out what they needed by using a credit card Workers dont get wages, they get the same credit People work for honor, gratitude, social status awarded for those who contribute to society Competition will be replaced by service to others o Lester Ward and Misarchy Founder of American sociology Psychic factors of civilization Importance lies in non-laissez faire leftist , uses argument of social darwinism Humans intelligence makes us different from animals we can transcend individual struggle and form a cooperative struggle for survival to find social intelligence Evolution of human is through cooperation, the state interferes Hostility towards government is misarchy. Pg 774-775 The public myth is being manipulated and abused by those benefitting Government is a social agent to protect people and needs to be strengthened (776) The individual was reigned long enough Misarchy to be replaced by sociocracy Trade Unions o Leftist individuals, never caught on in a mass movement 5 working men and trade unions were separate from intellectual movement o American union members shared dream for equal opportunities in life o Americans tearing down capitalism as opposed to strengthening it o Union movement saw workers as potentially able to make it. In Lincolns words: dont get rid of capitalism, reform it From Right Individuals o Mugwumps From protestant families that made America old money They were gentle, moral people who were educated. Against the new money of the Vanderbilts, etc. Hate how they spent it, felt they were uneducated, upstarted commoners. They were anti-Semitic Plutocracy had replaced aristocracy Mugwumps attacked plutocracy, thought they would take over the gov. Mugwumps felt themselves being pushed aside in wealth, prestige, power. In 1910, more than 20 millionaires were in the senate Chorus of lament over industrial capitalism hated political power of corporation Lodge, TR, Adams, Lowells Mugwumps hated technology, machinery, modernity. Turned to religious faith (Henry Adams) Hated transformation of America and who America was becoming. They had a sad lament on the passing of America. They were seen as silly reactionaries. Many saw futility in the aristrocratic condemnation of this liberal America
THE PROGRESSIVE IMPULSE (LECTURES AND READINGS 11/13 11/20)
-- Progressivism was the next step after populism, but differed in that it involved intellectuals and politicians, rather than gaining support from farmers -- Progressive politics also based less on the people. Government would be run by professionals and intellectuals. -- Take government away from the machines and put it in the hands of experts and disinterested social scientists, who would manage it in a scientific manner. -- Big focus on pragmatism -- Looked to limit unchecked growth in cities and restore past American ideals -- Movement made up predominantly of middle class people -- Part of Lockean ideals -- Protect property -- Improve lot through hard work -- Called for extension of government, but firmly against socialism. -- Wanted to end party boss rule -- Called for direct election of senators -- Stop monopolies -- Keepers of morality -- Unchecked capitalism violated rules of Christianity -- Clergymen part of progressive movement. Ex. Walter Rauschenbush: Man is treated as a thing to produce more things. Men are hired as hands and not as men. They are paid only enough to maintain their working capacity and not enough to develop their manhood We ought to have asked: How ought industry to be organized in order to protect and foster the family, the human individual, and the Christian life?... (p. 1007-8) --Muckrackers pointed out the wrongs in society, especially, the abuses within cities -- Upton Sinclair wrote The Jungle about the corruption experienced by immigrant workers in the meatpacking industry in 1906. -- Lincoln Steffens wrote The Shame of Cities in 1904 arguing that the government needs to take a larger role in moderating society. Otherwise big business would continue to use government to its advantage Politics is business. Thats whats the matter with it, (p. 990). -- Jane Addams wrote The Spirit of Youth and the City Streets in 1909, arguing that the cities are a bad influence on unmonitored youth, and that cultural activities will help improve their morals (p. 1002). not mentioned in class -- Teddy Roosevelt (elected president in 1900) became synonymous with the progressive crusade. Captured imagination of America through speeches and lectures considered most versatile president since Jefferson. -- While president, behaved as if he was elected to safeguard peoples interests -- Left office in 1909, ran again in 1912, but lost -- Created Bull Moose third part, but lost. -- Much of Roosevelts ideology was based on Herbert Crolys Promise of American Life. -- Said that we should accept inequality as long as everyone has equal opportunity -- concept that everyone should start at the same place in the race of life: American political thinkers have always repudiated the idea that by equality of rights they
meant anything like equality of performance of power. The utmost varieties of individual power and ability are bound to exist and are bound to bring about many different levels of individual achievement, (p. 1068) -- Croly abandoned Jeffersonian view of government for Jacksonian view (p. 1069) -- Advocates for big government: If equality of opportunity was to be maintained, it could not be done by virtue of noninterference, (p. 1070). -- Public life must have a purpose; nation as well as individual must have a will. the really formative purpose is not exclusively a matter of individual liberty, although it must give individual liberty abundant scope. Neither is it a matter of equal rights alone, although it must always cherish the social bond which the principle represents. The salutary and formative democratic purpose consists in using the democratic organization for the joint benefit of individual distinction and social improvement, (p. 1081 -- Teddy Roosevelt coined the term New Nationalism to describe how the government should actually represent the people -- Different than socialism because socialism was internationally focused. -- Urged commitment to nationalist ideals, as opposed to Jeffersonian ideals -- Supported imperialism propel nationalism by asserting power abroad instead of big business -- Saw politics and foreign affairs in gendered terms manly revolt against feminine business interests. -- In his speech, New Nationalism, he asserted the need for a stronger government that could solve the peoples problems we must drive the special interests out of politics, (p. 1089). -- Woodrow Wilson also sought to balance the powers of big corporations. -- Professor and president of Princeton -- Got elected through party boss system, but then abandoned it and emerged as a progressive reformer. Became president in 1912 -- Felt a moral obligation to fulfill Gods will member of both religious and socio-cultural elect. -- Wilsons intellectual advisor was Louis Brandeis. -- Said that economy should be small and competitive; Break up trusts -- After that there would be no more need for big government -- Clayton Antitrust Act and Federal Reserve Act sought to limit trusts -- In The New Freedom. In 1913, Wilson says, There is a sense in which in our day the individual has been submerged most men are servants of corporations, (p. 1103) -- p. 1104 men have lost individuality to corporations -- p. 1105 the economic system is heartless -- p. 1107 The present organization of business was meant for the big fellows and was not meant for the little fellows; that it was meant for those who are at the top and was mean to exclude those who were at the bottom; that it was meant to shut out beginners, to prevent new entries in the race. -- p. 1113 If they open their eyes in a land of merely regulated monopoly, where all the conditions of industry are determined by small groups of men, then they will see an America such as the founders of this Republic would have wept to think of. -- Used moral reasoning to decide which governments to recognize didnt recognize Mexican government, because it was dictatorial. -- Wilson refused to see WWI for what it was saw it as a moral crusade to bring democracy to all countries the war to end all wars.
-- 14 Points that Wilson offered at the end of war was rejected by the League of Nations, discrediting his attempt to make universal peace. -- Feminist spirit developed after passage of 15th amendment, in which non-white men were given the right to vote, but women were still denied -- Elizabeth Cady Stanton first asserted womens right to vote -- Victoria Woodhull a popular upper-class woman who had been a stock-broker and newspaper owner ran for president to further womans right movement -- Used spiritualist movement to fight for rights -- Abandoned influential capitalist friends in the process. -- Advocated the rights of woman to enjoy sex, have free love worked against the double standard -- Based claims in Christianity. -- Addressed Congress in On Constitutional Equality asking them to consider womens suffrage implicit in the Fifteenth Amendment If freedom consists in having an actual share in appointing those who frame the laws, are not the women of this country in absolute bondage, and can government, in the face of the XV. Amendment, assume to deny them the right to vote, being in this condition of servitude? (p. 862). -- Charlotte Perkins Gilman grew up as part of Beecher family in CT. Wrote The Yellow Wallpaper, about post-childbirth depression. Eventually committed suicide. -- Advocated feminism in opposite manner as Woodhull -- Said that sex was for procreation, not recreation. Birth control should not be allowed -- Said that labor and economics are defined along gender lines in Women and Economics in 1898. We have assumed that the preparation and serving of food and the removal of dirt, the nutritive and excretive processes of the family, are feminine functions; and we have also assumed that these processes must go on in what we call the home, which is the external expression of the family, (p. 873). -- Advocated for a more equal division in the household Women should stand beside man as the comrade of his soul, not the servant of his body, (p. 874). -- Emma Goldman, feminist activist and anarchist, wrote Anarchism: What It Really Stands For in 1907, advocating anarchisms merits and its ability to bring freedom from institutions like religion and government. not mentioned in class. The new social order rests, of course, on the materialistic basis of life; but while all Anarchists agree that the main evil today is an economic one, they maintain that the solution of that evil can be brought about only through the consideration of every phase of life, -- every individual; as well as collective; the internal, as well as the external phases, (p. 820) Here are some page numbers my T.A. sent us that relate to Progressivism T. Roosevelt pragmatism: problem-orientation (rather than principle-orientation); concern with the present 1087 corporatism (capital-business compromise under the aegis of the state ) 1087-8 indictment of plutocracy: influence of big business interests on politics (Jacksonian vein)
1089-1090 new principle: public good and community rights (vs. selfishness) 1091, 1093, 1095 new politics: active government and state intervention (vs. laissez faire): 1091, 1094 - equality of opportunity: 1088-9, 1093 - regulation/supervision of business (accepting big business): 1090 - human rights and welfare: 1094-5 reinfusion of politics of modern society with a dose of republican communitarianism W. Wilson individual vs. corporation: nostalgia for Gemeinschaft vs. impersonal Gesellschaft: 1103-5, 1108 end of personal calling: 1107 end of equality of opportunity & competition: 1107-9 big fellows vs. little fellows (made vs. on the make) : 1107-8 demise of the middle class: 1108 freedom vs. dependence: 1108-9, 1112 present-orientation (1103) and the obsolescence of old principles (1109) individual responsibility (liberal virtue) vs. corporate irresponsibility (modern vice) government intervention: 1108-10 protection of the individual: 1113 freedom redefined positive liberty: 1113 restoration of fair play: 1113
New Deal Liberalism XVIII. Hoovers Social Thought: 3) Spoke of Rugged Individualism in his campaign speech. Saw a link between planning and dictators 1. We were challenged with a peacetime choice between the American system of rugged individualism and a European philosophy of diametrically opposed doctrines p 1138 2. Government intervention would stifle initiative and intervention would cramp and cripple the mental and spiritual energies of our people (1139) 4) 1922 writes American Individualism it is as if we set a race we provide in the government the umpire of fairness (omitted from p 1134). A return to Lockean phraseology. 1. Solution? belt-tighteninghe is against Keynesian intervention 5) Hoover remained an outspoken critic of New Deal. In his speech Challenge to Liberty (1141) he attacks the program for usurping the rights of men and forcing the people to become dependent on the government 6) Speech The Fifth Freedom (1144). In response to FDRs four freedoms speech. He says the fifth freedom of the people is economic freedom. He says that economic Fascism is acceptable in war time as long as those economic measures are not frozen into life, but shall thaw out after the war (1147). Also, intellectual and spiritual freedom will not long survive the passing of economic freedom. XIX. New Deal Innovations XLIV. No nostalgia for the past. Has overtones of New Nationalism and New Freedom a. Accepts big business, big govt but considers right of workers b. Doesnt accept a conspiracy theory, rather attributes the depression to structural flaws in economy c. No ideal image of society, no absolute truths (pragmatism) XLV. Contrary to Hoover, advocates Keynesian intervention a. Wants active monetary and fiscal policy to stimulate the economynot Socialist! They were doing this in order to save capitalism b. Govt pledged itself to end unemployment (no more Social Darwinism) c. Development of Welfare State practices: SS, minimum wage, graduated income tax, etc. XLVI. Speech at Oglethorpe University: much of it, I believe, could have been prevented by greater foresight and by a larger measure of social planning (1167). We cannot review carefully the history of our industrial advance without being struck by its haphazardness XLVII.Commonwealth Club Speech: the independent business man is running a losing race (1175) XLVIII. The Four Freedoms: Freedom of speech and expression, freedom of religion, freedom from want: economic understandings which will secure to every nation a healthy peacetime life for its inhabitants (1189), freedom from fear a worldwide reduction of armaments (1189) XLIX. A second Bill of Rights: p 1191. Include: adequate food, decent home, adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, education and SECURITY. XX. Tugwell: the most radical of the New Deal Thinkers. Represents the most left on the debate of planning. Writes The Principle of Planning (p 1192) a. Rejection of Adam Smith Planning is the opposite of conflict. Its meaning is not to private money making ventures and not to the guidance of a hidden hand (1198)*** b. Wants wartime command economy applied in peacetime: A central group of experts
charged with the duty of planning the countrys economic life profits must be limited and their uses controlled (1195) c. ***order and reason are superior to adventurous competition. It will demonstrate these day by day and year by year in the personnel of a civil service devoted to disinterested thinking rather than romantic hopes of individual gain (1196) d. Under the spell of the USSR 1201 XXI. Lippman. Planning an Economy of Abundance: planning is a violation of personal freedom and will lead to political despotism a. Planning ends in the most irrational form of government imaginablein the dictatorship of casual oligarchs who have no hereditary title, no constitutional origin or responsibility, who cannot be replaced except by violence 1210 b. Planners must be despots who tolerate no effective challenge to their authority 1209
60s: L. . Wright Mills Letter to the New Left (1960) a. Working class no longer the agent of historical transformation b. Felt young intellectuals and students would be the new agents of political change LI. Barry Goldwater The Conscience of a Conservative (1960) a. Critic of personal dependency which he believed the welfare state engendered b. For small government LII. Jerry Rubin A Yippie Manifesto (1969) a. Wanted the young to rebel against hierarch and hypocrisy LIII. Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) The Port Huron Statement (1962) a. New left organization for student activism b. Critique of apathy and depersonalization in American society c. Stated anxiety and estrangement the young felt in spite of American prosperity d. Wanted to reduce economic institutions and materialism in American culture by increasing democratic participation and individual responsibility LIV. Betty Friedan The Feminine Mystique (1963) a. Expressed the unhappiness of many women that were middle-class suburban housewives LV. W.E.B. Du Bois The Soul of Black Folk (1903) a. Discussed blacks attempt to maintain their dual identities in a nation that does not give them freedom b. Militant supporter of equality for blacks c. Opposed Booker T. Washingtons accommodationist approach LVI. Martin Luther King, Jr. Letter from Birmingham Jail (1963) a. Letter to his fellow clergyman rejecting their pleas for patience, and accusing them of impeding the path to progress b. Felt a need for constructive nonviolent tension and civil disobedience c. Rooted in Christian natural-law tradition d. 4 steps in a nonviolent campaign ending in direct action e. Felt if they did not have nonviolent action, blacks would be drawn to violence. LVII. Bayard Rustin From Protest to Politics: The Future of the Civil Rights Movement (1965) a. Pacifist and moderate civil rights leader b. For nonviolent civil disobedience c. Formed coalitions with white liberals, labor unions, and Jews He recommended these coalitions as the most effective way to achieve political power necessary to effect positive change d. Critisied increasing de-facto segregation LVIII. Malcolm X The Ballot or the Bullet (1964) a. Philosphy of black nationalism b. For defensive violence against racial oppression c. This so- called democracy has failed the negro.
d. Goals: removing evils from black community and having black economic independence