Chapter 3 - Lockean Liberty

Question 1

Whig party

Answer 1

This was practically England’s first political party, organized in opposition to the king

Question 2

“Second Treatise of Government”

Answer 2

John Locke’s work arguing that political authority comes from the people, not God or precedent.

Question 3

The 5 points of John Locke’s treatise

Answer 3

1. In a state of nature, there is no government (all have the same rights if they do not impose on others
2. Men create a social contract (with no divine mandate; gov is a human invention serving a human purpose)
3. Gov’s only job is to protect people’s’ natural rights
4. Government exists by the consent of the governed
5. If gov violates the social contract, the people have the right and duty to revolt

Question 4

Glorious revolution

Answer 4

After the Second Treatise was written, the English bloodlessly expelled their king from the country; William of orange and his wife Mary were invited to be joint monarchs subject to parliament making it clear that monarchs could rule only by the consent of the people; considered a true founding

Question 5

Lockean freedom

Answer 5

Government literally was created by the people and rights were natural and fundamental (life, liberty and property)

Question 6

The Rule of Law

Answer 6

Meta legal principles determining whether or not a law supports freedom - (5 principles)

Question 7

Natural law

Answer 7

The law that classical Greeks believed resided in the human heart and reflects our innate sense of right and wrong (moral law - if followed, natural law would protect natural rights)
Ex: if there is a natural right to life, there is a natural law against taking of life

Question 8

Natural rights

Answer 8

Fundamental rights granted by nature that government cannot abrogate and which government is bound to protect

Question 9

Common law

Answer 9

Law that is considered to be from natural law principles framed in precedents set by earlier courts; primary form of law in England.

Question 10

Rule of Law: generality

Answer 10

When laws are made they must apply to broad categories of people and must not single out individuals or groups for special treatment

Question 11

Rule of Law: prospectivity

Answer 11

Laws must apply to future action and not past action

Question 12

Rule of Law: publicity

Answer 12

Laws must be known and certain such that everyone knows if their existence and their enforcement is reasonably reliable

Question 13

Rule of Law: consent

Answer 13

Laws must be generally acceptable to those who must live by them

Question 14

Rule of Law: due process

Answer 14

When laws are applied they must be administered impartially - “justice is blind”

Question 15

The Boston Tea Party

Answer 15

The rule of law (consent) was violated because those being taxed were not represented in parliament which was slowed to make laws for the colonists. This is part of what sparked the American Revolution

Question 16

French and Indian War

Answer 16

Britain and her colonies fought the French with their respective native allies; the French were defeated thereby solidifying British control of North America.

Question 17

Montesquieu

Answer 17

French political thinker who favored the British systems of rule and the idea of separation of powers, wrote “The Spirit of the Laws” arguing for the genius of British institutions on every page

Question 18

Commonwealth ideology

Answer 18

Whig writers developed this alternative approach to the problem of preserving Liberty; The “country party” had the best strategy and opportunity to preserve Liberty against the “court party”

Question 19

Court party (Tories)

Answer 19

English royal court and center of British political power; characterized by corruption and subversion

Question 20

Country party

Answer 20

English opposition to the court party consisting of every day citizens: considered morally independent with pure motives and

Question 21

John Adams

Answer 21

Believed in rule of law importance which led him to defend the British soldiers involved in the Boston massacre; his defense demonstrated to the world that the colonists were civilized and could therefore govern themselves

Question 22

Separation of powers

Answer 22

Dividing powers of government between the separate branches

Question 23

The Boston Massacre

Answer 23

Five colonists were killed when British soldiers fired into a rioting mob. British soldiers were accused of murdering colonists but Adams defended them (because of his belief in the rule of law) saying that the soldiers had fired from agitation

Question 24

John Locke

Answer 24

He was the secretary to Lord Shaftsbury who began organizing opposition to the king politically; Developed a pair of treatises that addressed the question of rulers and their claims to authority and whether the doctrine of divine right was valid.