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DEMOCRACY BEFORE
AMERICAWhat were those guys
thinking?
Age of Enlightenment
• Dictionary definition…
• the state of having knowledge or understanding: the act of giving someone knowledge or understanding (www.merriam-webster.com)
• History definition…
• a philosophical, intellectual and cultural movement of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. It stressed reason, logic, criticism and freedom of thought over dogma, blind faith and superstition. (europeanhistory.about.com)
Influences from Ancient Athens
• Ancient Greece was organized as independent city-states
• demos kratia – “government by the people”
• 500 – 400 BC Athens became a direct democracy• citizens could vote and were expected to serve
• developed rules for citizenship: • free men of Athens who owned property
Influences from Ancient Rome
• 509 BC ancient Rome created a republic form of government
• in a republic, citizens elect representatives who make the laws and run the government in the name of the people
• developed bicameralism: • patricians could vote for the Senate
• plebeians could vote for the Assembly
Influences from England
• 11th to 13th century England:• absolute monarchy (total power of royals)
• nobles resented the absolute power of the royals
• serfs had no political power at all
• 1215 AD King John signed the Magna Carta • listed the rights and duties of royals and nobles
• England became a limited monarchy
• Parliament - a council of advisors to the royals
Influences from England
• English Common Law – traditional Middle Ages rules that were applied to most of the people
• 1689 AD William and Mary signed the English Bill of Rights• no taxes without Parliament’s consent
• Parliament makes the laws of England
• voters elect representatives to Parliament
• members of Parliament have Freedom of Speech
• no cruel and unusual punishments
Influences from England
• 1600-1700s English colonists in America expected certain rights:• trial by jury
• freedom of speech
• freedom of religion
• no search or seizure without a warrant
Influences from European Social Contract Theorists
Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679), English• Wrote Leviathan
• people are basically like animals… nasty, brutish, selfish, etc.
• To improve life, people gave up some sovereignty (freedom) in exchange for some security (safety)
• Developed the “contract theory” of government• government exists because the people agree to let the government rule
them
Influences from European Social Contract Theorists
John Locke (1632-1704), English• Wrote Second Treatise of Government
• tabula rasa – people are influenced by their physical and social environment
• people had the right to “life, liberty, and the ownership of property”
• people have rights…including the right to dissolve an abusive government
• influenced writers of the Declaration of Independence
Influences from European Social Contract Theorists
Montesquieu (1689-1755), French• Wrote The Spirit of Laws
• best government was a limited government• government must follow its own laws
• government must provide for its people
• said power should be divided between branches of government• prevents one person or group of persons from having too much power
• influenced the writers of the Constitution
Influences from European Social Contract Theorists
Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778), Swiss-French
• Wrote The Social Contract• expanded the contract theory
• people make a contract between each other…not with a ruler
• people choose to create a government so that life will be orderly and peaceful
• people choose to participate in their government
• government should respond to the general will of society…popular sovereignty
DEMOCRACY BEFORE
AMERICATHAT’s what those guys were
thinking?