Wrocław, 20.11.2012
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The ideology of the American Revolution - Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin.
The American revolution is regarded as a milestone in development of a modern state idea. It went far towards creating a throughout state-of-the-art documents – the Declaration of Independence and the American Constitution, both being a reflection of the Enlightenment’s theses. This essay will focus on the ideological background of the Revolution. In the first part I will briefly describe general ideas influencing the views of the Founding Fathers. In the second one I will focus on the profiles of two of the Fathers - Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson.
While describing the historical background of the event, it should be emphasized that the Revolution is an effect of many simultaneous economic, social and politic processes taking place both in Europe and the States. A serious role had been played by social divisions between bourgeois from the South and other societal groups as well as by economic exploitation of the colonies by its metropolis – the United Kingdom. It is impossible to name all the above-mentioned processes, but it is indubitable that one of the most important factors were the ideas created by great thinkers of the 18th century, such as John Locke and Charles Montesquieu, willingly accepted by inhabitants of the North America.
It seems that thesis describing the Founding Fathers as only perfect followers of ideas created in Europe, not creators of new ideas is fully legitimate. On the other hand it is worth noticing that these people were mostly practitioners, not theorists1, and they can easily be called the very first who applied Enlightenment’s theses in practice. Generally speaking the Founding fathers were advocates of the school of natural law and social contract theory. The Americans adopted the notion saying that laws of nature are not only a set of moral warrants and bans but also a system of an abstract justice which human beings must subordinate to, since the system expresses the natural status of human. The natural human rights were reflected in the non-transferable and inalienable fundamental rights concept.
Although the American thinkers were of the same opinion on some basic issues, they disagreed about the political system in their not-yet-existing motherland. Hence, we can distinguish: the loyalists - striving for keeping the agreement with the UK and representatives of the independence strand who were willing to become an independent state. As it is obvious, the founding fathers represented the second group and their political visions were also divided – the federalists, i.a. George Washington, Alexander Hamilton and Benjamin Franklin, were in favour of centralized state government and property qualification; the left was more democratic and requested autonomy of states and guaranties of citizens’ rights. Its leader was a comprehensively educated lawyer and politician. Thomas Jefferson(1743 – 1826). He was also the third President of the USA, elected twice in 1800 and 1804, as well as the main author of the United States Declaration of Independence. Though born in a wealthy, upper-class family, in his views he expressed ideas close to the interests of the middle- and lower-class members, since he thought the society should be based exactly on them. Quite similarly to John Locke’s views, Jefferson stated that human beings possess some inalienable rights that should be guaranteed by the state. To these rights belong: the right to life, to freedom, to property, to search for happiness and to free conscience. He maintained that "society in every state is a blessing, but government even in its best state is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one."2 Jefferson also claimed that governing power is based on social agreement, therefore if the government is not able to fulfill these guaranties, people have right to disobey and even to change it. Due to his anxiety about centralized and absolute power Jefferson had proposed a prohibition of reelection for the President of the USA and extension of the Congress’ prerogatives. Moreover, he was in favour of wide autonomy of States. In terms of economy, Jefferson appraised development of farming properties and criticized the idea of enriching at all costs. He was also an antagonist of the common law system, at once claiming that judges should be independent and fulfill high moral standards. The independence should be underwritten by having a tenure and high salaries. In spite of the fact that he condemned slavery and race persecution until his death Jefferson possessed slaves.
The most pre-eminent ideological opponent of Jefferson was a genious auto-didact Benjamin Franklin(1706-1790). Surprisingly enough, was Franklin not only a keen politician, but also a talented physicist – the invention of the first lighting rod, as well as the theory of “positively” and “negatively” charged electrical fluids, are both accredited to him. With the establishment of the American Philosophical Society in 1769, Benjamin Franklin had started his political activity. As a devotee of abolitionism, he also founded a society, which aim was to achieve immediate emancipation of slaves. In the initial years of his public practice Franklin did not contemplate separation from Britain, moreover he regarded it’s government as the best in the world. In 1754 he presented to the Albany Congress a plan of union which assumed a partial self-government for the American colonies. In 1765 in London, Franklin proposed changes in the legal status of the colonies. The project was rejected and the British Parliament continued on imposing very high taxes and restrictive policies for its overseas territories. This resulted in war and radical change in Franklin’s world perception, as he became one of the organizers of the colonial army and the American independent state. He also took part in negotiating and signing the Treaty of Paris (1783), which ended the war for independence.
Franklin’s views were based on his belief in human’s ability of self-development. He was convinced that through self-cognoscence, the nature of society can be revealed to every human being. He believed that man should cultivate its character by following 13 virtues ( tempelance, silence, order, resolution, frugality, industry, sincerity, justice, moderation, cleanliness, tranquility, hastity, humility). According to Franklin’s views, knowledge about society was necessary to create a well-organized and joy-giving society. In terms of politics Franklin postulated democratic rules. He claimed that people’s participation in making decisions would make them obey rules without using means of coercion. He also postulated forming a unicameral parliament as a fruition of the human equality rule and way of improving its work (unicameral parliament works faster). The aim of the parliament should be to secure natural human rights, such as freedom of speech, freedom of religion and economical liberty. Similar to the Physiocrats, Franklin believed that the source of the wealth of nations are the natural resources and farming. It is also worth mentioning that Benjamin Franklin was an advocate of free trade idea.
In conclusion, the American Revolution, or rather its main thinkers – Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson, contributed to materialize ideals that Europe was about to begin fighting for. Republicanism and sovereign rights of citizens became basic features of a modern state, and such an early accustoming of democratic mechanisms resulted in creating a vision of the USA as a law-abiding state, being somehow a “Promised Land”.
Bibliography:
Dubel, Lech. Historia doktryn politycznych i prawnych do schyłku XX wieku. 3rd ed. Warsaw: Lexis Nexis, 2009. pp. 240-243
Kundera, Elżbieta and Maciejewski M.(eds). Leksykon myślicieli politycznych i prawnych. 3rd ed. Warsaw: C.H. Beck, 2008. pp. 137-138, 141
Olszewski Henryk. and Chojnicka Krystyna. Historia doktryn politycznych i prawnych. Podręcznik Akademicki. 1st ed. Poznań: Ars Boni et Aequi, 2004. pp. 139-142
Olszewski Henryk and Zmierczak Maria. Historia doktryn politycznych i prawnych. 2nd ed. Poznań: Ars Boni et Aequi, 1994. pp. 183-186
Sylwestrzak Andrzej. Historia doktryn politycznych i prawnych. 7th ed. Warsaw: Lexis Nexis, 2009. pp. 227-229
↩Lech Dubel, Historia doktryn politycznych i prawnych do schyłku XX wieku, 3rd ed., (Warsaw: Lexis Nexis, 2009), p. 240
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