state Intro: America was in need for social system - introduce the ideas talk about their origins , how they came into affect into America, what time period, how they are conflict and how they are similar Puritianism: Origin Christianity Europe Winthrop Main idea The state The individual The communityi
Puritanism was a one of our countries founding systems political and social thought and was parallel with the Christian commonwealth ideals. The Church of Englands Protestant Reformation led to the violent prosecution of non-Anglican churches. Theses violent prosecutions led these religious sects to America in search of a Puritan society where the practice of religion was free of prosecution. It was a new beginning, for the Puritans believe that God had chosen them to go to America to develop and control the uncultivated land to create a beacon for all mankind. (Kramnick Lecture 3) God and the Bible was the Puritans foundation, and upon this they built their whole theology, society and government. Their political ideology was based on the belief that government is necessary because of original sin; that since man is inherently evil; God gave him the system of government to restrain him from this evil. With this the Puritans reasoned that the function of government is to enforce conformity according to the laws of God. Puritanism advanced the states role in implementing Gods morals laws, while promoting the individuals direct relationship with God. The state was viewed as a strong moral force that enforced, motivated and coerced proper conduct in the eyes of God. It also endorsed communalistic ideals and civic virtue; they enforced strict community wide rules of personal behavior and violations were believed to be adverse to the entire population. John Winthrop embodies the Puritan ideology and endorses the puritans two political covenants with God; and individual pact to abide by his moral code and a collective political contract to carry out his work in Massachusetts. Winthrop divides the first convent into two types of liberty. The first liberty, natural liberty, is mans ability to do good and evil but the exercise and maintain of this liberty makes men grow more evil, be worse than brute beasts (Winthrop 22). The inevitable evil of this liberty makes it incompatible with authority and for it must be restrained. Second, moral, which, is the proper end and object of authority, and cannot subsist without it; and it is a liberty to that only which is good, just and honest (Winthrop, p 22). This moral code is upheld by total submission to the authority of God through shirking ones natural inclinations that may question his command.
Winthrop is keenly aware that temptations to commit evial are a part of human affairs and often overwhelm them. The politically powerful can be corrupted by the temptation to oppress the community while those who are weaker can be tempted to shrink away from play their part or to shirk their duty to the community. Winthrop affirms that one of Gods reasons for ordaining that human beings live in an interdepent community is to moderate and restrain the wicked. The purpose of community is to attain that bond of brotherly affection, for it is in that bond alone that human beings can best share the gifts of gods love. That bond, in turn, is the fruit of Christian faith.
They therefore defined liberty as the freedom to do what was just and right, which in turn was determined by God and interpreted by the ministers and regenerate of the colonies. a. Human beings are equally subject to Gods ordinances and in need of each other to attain Gods love and graces Winthrop b. Winthrop The opportunity to know Gods love and to love and obey God is true human equality.
The Puritan belief was that God had chosen them to go to America to cultivate and subdue the untamed land to create a beacon for all mankind. Thus, over course of the 17th and 18th Centuries, it came to pass that success in ones calling meant salvation in the eyes of God. Diligent pursuit of success became the way to serve God on earth (Kramnick lecture, 9/9). Certain moral qualities became associated with achievement and thus morphed into religious obligations. These included: honesty, frugality, diligence, asceticism, punctuality, sobriety, cleanliness, industriousness, and self-reliance. As Cotton Mather, Bostons leading minister in the 1700s-1720s explained, practice the Christian virtues and your business will go better all the day (Kramnick lecture, 9/9). The Puritan execution of the Protestant ethic became inextricably linked with theology, however, Lockean liberalism decoupled the two as it became the dominant American ideology.
Lockean liberalism: Origin - John Locke Main idea The state The individual The community
LockeanliberalismwasaproductofEnglishpoliticalthoughtduringthe17thcentury;asProfessor KramnickandR.LaurenceMooreoutlineinTheGodlessConstitution:AMoralDefenseoftheSecularState (2005),theEnglishCivilWaratmidcenturyresultedintherejectionofpoliticaltyranny.JohnLockeand fellowliberalsabandonedtheidealoftheChristiancommonwealth;instead,theypromotedasecularstate thatprotectslife,libertyandproperty,uninterestedwithmattersofbelief.Indeed,LockesSecondTreatise ofGovernment,outlinesthemodernliberaldemocraticstate,aconsensualandlimitedgovernment administeredbythepeopleandconsistingofacommunityoffreeandequalindividuals.Allindividuals possessnaturalrights;suchrightsaredefinedGodgivenbutthereaftermanagedbymen.Inthestateof nature,peopleenjoytheirnaturalrights,buttheirlife,libertyandpropertyarenotsecure.Accordingly, Lockenotes,peoplerelinquishsomeoftheirrightsandenterintoasocialcompactinordertoprotecttheir life,libertyandproperty.Lockesliberalsocialtheoryprivilegespopularsovereigntyandplaces autonomousindependentindividualsatthecenterofsociety;civicvirtueandcommunity,aspreviously promotedbyphilosopherslikeAristotleandRousseau,arenotnecessarytenetsofthepolity(Kramnick andMoore,2005:73).Thegovernmentbecomesaservanttosocietyandselfinterestedindividuals;itis nothingmorethananimpartialjudgeorumpire,managingcompetingprivateinterestsinsocietyand protectingthetenetsoflife,libertyandproperty(KramnickandMoore,2005:86).Shouldthestatefailto protecttheconstituencysrightsanddiscouragelaissezfaire,thenpeopleareencouragedtointerveneand changethegovernment.
{Politicalandeconomiclaissezfairewereaccompaniedbytheliberalidealthatembracedreligious freedom,rejectingthetraditionalChristianviewofstatethatfusedreligionandpoliticsbymakingthestate partofGodsdesigntoredeemhumanity.} Lockespoliticalandeconomiclaissezfaireisfurtheredbythenotionofreligiousfreedom.The separationbetweenreligionandgovernmentisofparticularimportancetotheliberalmodel;{WHY?} Locke,inhisLetterConcerningToleration,distinguisheschurchfromstate,placingreligionoutsidethe publicrealmandintotheprivaterealmofindividualpreference.ThisidearejectsthetraditionalChristian viewofstatethatfusedreligionandpolitics,establishingthestateaspartofGodsdesigntoredeem humanity.Instead,Lockesupportsthesecularstate,rejectingthemoralnecessityofdeferenceand memoryinformedtheirvisionofasecularstate;inattempttoavoidviolentreligiousconflictthatpervaded subordinationtothepoliticalrulers(KramnickandMoore,2005:72).NotethatLockeanliberalshistoric Europe,Lockedislocatedreligionandpolitics.Theysoughtfreedomfromtherestraintofboththe medievalChristiancommonwealthandthemedievalmercantilisteconomy(KramnickandMoore,2005: 85).Assuch,Lockeadvocatedreligioustolerance,therebypreservingdomesticpeaceandenablingpeople toenjoytheirrightsandprivateproperty.Theliberalrevolutionrenderedprivateofsomemuchthat hithertohadbeenseenaspublic,encouragingindividualeconomicandsocialpursuits(Kramnickand Moore,2005:78).Thestatenolongerservesapositiveroletoeducate,nurtureorprovidemoral standards(KramnickandMoore,2005:81).AsThomasJeffersonstatedinhisNotesonVirginia:The legitimatepowersofgovernmentextendtosuchactsonlyasareinjurioustoothers.Butitdoesmeno injuryformyneighbortosaytherearetwentygods,ornogod.Itneitherpicksmypocketnorbreaksmy leg.(Anthology,345).Accordingly,thechurchbecameoneofmanyvoluntaryassociationsinliberal societywherepeoplespenttime,becomingakintosocialclubs. MAKETHISPARAGRAPHMORECLEAR ComplementarytoLockesreligiousfreedom,andattheheartofhisliberaltheory,isproperty, whichgivesmeaningtoindividualisminsocietyandprovidesthefoundationforAmericascapitalist society(Lecture2:September2).Whenanindividuallabors,aproductofhis/herownproperty(his/her body),thepropertyforwhichhelaborsbecomeshis/herown.Accordingly,Lockeprovidesacriticallink betweenliberalgovernmentandpropertythroughwork.Laissezfairesocietypromotesselfrealization throughindividualendeavors(ratherthanseekingselfrealizationexternallythroughthestate),creatingthe vastprivatespherenecessaryforselfinterestedpeopletoworkandacquireprivateproperty,whichis whollyprotectedbythegovernment.Bylimitingthestatesroleinprivateaffairs,conflict(asonceseenin England)isdiscouraged,providingthefreeandpeacefulcompetitivemarketenvironmentnecessaryfor individualpursuitsandtheacquisitionofprivateproperty(KramnickandMoore,2005:84).Thisiscentral tothedevelopmentofAmerica:byworkingAmericaslandthroughtheprocessofindividuallabor,itbecomes onesown,embodyingtheAmericanideal(CITELECTURE).NotethatAdamSmithsTheWealthofNations alignswiththisthinkingandprovidesthenecessarylinkbetweentheindividualpursuittothecommunity (Lecture4:September9).Smithsinvisiblehandisametaphorfortheindividualpursuinghisownself interestinafreesociety.Hearguesthatselfinterestedpursuitsresultintheindividualmaximizing propertyforhimself,therebyultimatelymaximizingtherevenueofsocietyasawhole.Indeed,Smiths economistperspectiveprovidesthenotionofcommunitythatLockediscounts(orfailstoelucidate). Althoughstarklydifferentfrom18thcenturyRepublicannotionsofcommunity,Smithelucidatesthe inevitable(andarguablyironic)communalbenefitofindividualism.
Similarities That Lockean Liberals and Puritans had converging opinions on the role of the state ran contrary to their concurrence in placing importance on adhering to the consent of the governed. In Lockean Liberalism, consent manifested itself as the common agreement that the role of protection of life, liberty and property was ceded to a governing body that acted strictly as an, agent of the propertied men who contract to set it up (The Godless Constitution, p 73). Similarly, in his speech Defence of an Order of Court, Massachusetts Bay Colony Governor and Puritan leader, John Winthrop explains, the essential forme of a common weale or body politicI conceive to be this The consent of a certaine company of
people, to cohabitate together, under one government for their mutual safety and welfare (Winthrop, p 17). In both ideologies, the constituencies willingly yielded a certain amount of control to a higher governmental power in order to better ensure public safety. The ambiguity presented in the case of Paines proliferation of exceptionalism, despite diverging ideology in general social theory, is similar to that seen in the role of work ethic and property within Puritanism and Lockean Liberalism. The systems were compatible in that they both subscribed to the notion of the necessity of the Protestant work ethic - that each man has a calling and it is his responsibility to do it well and eagerly. They differed, however in cause for following this ethic. For Puritans it was a means for salvation in the eyes of God, while in Lockean Liberalism it was a vital ingredient in engendering and maintaining individualism and secularism. At the heart of Lockes liberal theory stands property. Property gives concrete meaning to the notion of individualism (Kramnick lecture, 9/2). Locke, too adopted the Protestant work ethic, however, he did so in a secular manner. He embraces the notion that when you work on something your are giving it something your own, and therefore it is your own and implants it into his laissez-faire political construct. The disbanding of religion and the Protestant work ethic fully manifests itself in Adam Smiths The Wealth of Nations when he introduces the notion of the innate urge in all mankind to better ones condition. This phrase presents the fundamental belief that the special quality of American life is that, in America everyone can improve their condition (Kramnick lecture, 9/9). He upholds the Protestant notion by explaining that social advancement is achieved through hard work and maintaining quality character, especially through frugality. The acquisition of private property, therefore, is virtuous as it is a product of adhering to the Protestant work ethic. To re-introduce Lockes principles, it is then the job of the state to protect that private property as it has been accrued through honorable endeavors.
DespitethetensionbetweenLockeanliberalismandPuritanism,thetwoschoolsofthoughtsharevarious overlappingandarguablycomplementaryaspects.Firstly,theProtestantethic(asdescribedby sociologistMaxWeber)alignswithLockesunderstandingoftherelationshipbetweenworkandproperty. ThePuritansestablishedtheMBCinordertobuildaChristiancommonwealth;theysoughttofulfilltheir Godlydutythroughlaborincultivatingtheland.Individualsmustavoididleness,whichisconsidered immoralbehavior,andpursuedisciplinedworkinordertogainGodsrecognitionanddowellinlife. WilliamPerkinsoutlinedthisnotioninaTreatiseonCallingofMan;lazinesswasdeemedanaffronttoGod andlaborlinkedwithpiety.Similarly,LockesIndividualSocialTheoryofWorkexploressuchideas;workis viewedasacallingtotheindividualinordertopursueaparticularvocation,therebyprovidingself realization(Anthology,p.53).Aspreviouslydiscussed,Lockepromotedtheinextricablelinkbetweenlabor andprivatepropertyacquisition.AlthoughthePuritansandLockedifferedwithrespecttopolitical institutionsandlaissezfaire,theirsharedunderstandingofworksroleinsocietywasinstrumentalin formingtheAmericanbeliefinmeritocracy;theindividualcanmorallyandeconomicallyimprovethrough hardworkandasceticism,therebybecomingsuccessfulinandcontributingpositivelytosociety. Secondly,democraticaspectmentionben