Letters & Writings Flashcards
Second Treatise, section 57 - John Locke
o First object of law is to preserve freedom & rights.
o Law is important because it protects us from others and the government.
Cato Letters - General Overview
o John Trenchard & Thomas Gordon
o Independent Whig Paper, Commonwealth men, are against centralized power, immorality, corruption & tyranny.
o Gentry, wealthy, radical Whig authors
o Promoted Liberal ideas (property, liberty, small govt.) and republican (virtue, against vices, corruption) themes pulled from Cato, Machiavelli, Sidney & Locke.
• Know the difference of Classical Liberalism vs. Libertarianism: moral ideals not touched by Libertarians
Cato Letter #59
Importance of Constitutions
• Importance of Constitutions
o If you give arbitrary power to the government you are living in tyranny.
o Checks and balances of government most be established to preserve liberty.
Cato Letter #62
Tyranny & Right of Revolution
• Liberty & Property
o True & impartial liberty is to pursue reasonable & religious dictates.
o Right of individual to produce and reap from own labors.
o Liberty is the divine source of human happiness.
o Freedom of conscience, speech, and action without hurting others.
o Officials & operation of government must be checked on tyranny.
o Without liberty one cannot be happy.
o From the beginning of time there has been a struggle against tyranny.
o If we do not watch them closely we will become the servants.
Tyranny and the Right to Revolution
“Absolute Princesses”
Cato Letter #55
“beasts of prey”
o They become “universal robbers”; “infinite murders and devastations.”
o Sidney: Caesar is one guy in the field with a sword without support. We make tyrants, cause they give us enough of what we want.
o Government always operates by force. So if you usurp the powers of government, and thereby the use of force, one only has the option to retake free government by force.
o One of things a king or tyrant does, is declare those that support liberty “as rebels.”
o The English saw tyrants as the “beast of prey” that needed to be killed by the spear or by balance of government.
Federal Farmer 4 (RH Lee or Melancton Smith – NY)
Trial by Jury to curb the few
Expensive education is required
Occupied by the few, well born – aristocratic
2 most influential ways people protect themselves in their community:
• Electing representatives or be one.
o Bicameralism allows for this.
o Founders wanted this to allow for commoner of any education level (house), and elite education & experience (senate).
• Trial by Jury guaranteed, or serve as juror.
Thomas Jefferson to Rutledge - Feb 2, 1782
Need for a National Court
TJ early views
Trial of Warren Hastings
Impeached as Gov. General of India
Law of the Land & Judicial Independence (Court of King’s Bench vs. Parliament)
Edmund Burke brought impeachment proceedings
Acquitted in 1795
George Washington to Edmund Randolph - Sept. 28, 1789
First Federal Judiciary
• We can’t have good government without a strong federal judiciary. – GW to ER, September 28, 1789
• Frist Supreme Court
John Jay (CJ)
John Rutledge, William Cushing, James Wilson, John Blair, James Iredell
Edmund Randolph to George Washington - Aug. 5, 1792
Hard Times for Federal Judiciary
A lot of the big talent stayed with state courts, and one reason is didn’t like circuit riding.
Concerned they are more supportive of state government over national.
GW is needed to push federal supremacy.
GW was the main reason for Constitution passing.
The founders didn’t want a stronger state confederacy but a stronger federal government, this meant a stronger judiciary. Proof Article 6.
Chief Justice Ellsworth (GA) - May 25, 1796
We are a nation now and subject to law of nations
Need to be regulated by National laws & tribunals
Too many customs in court systems, it’s a mess
Tough job to work with state court systems and balance National & State jurisdiction.
“The Rights of Colonist” 1772
Sam Adams
• Natural rights
o Life, liberty, property
o First right, self-preservation (e.g., right to defend)
o Positive law should confirm Natural Law if possible
o Municipal rights are founded in NL & law of nations
o Religious liberty & tolerance (if not subversive to govt.)
o Liberty is only abridged for the good of whole (local control)
• How can you control government that makes laws for areas that they don’t live in?
• The problem with having a national government is that you lose control of certain elements at the local level.
o Absolute Rights of Englishmen: personal security, personal liberty, private property
o Americans have NRs, Rights of Englishmen & Colonial Rights
o Right of Preservation trumps legislative power
o No absolute or arbitrary legislative powers
• You only have the right to make Constitutional laws
o Can’t take property without consent
Fairfax County Resolves (July 18, 1774)
• Reaction to the intolerable acts
• Meeting of the Freeholders and Inhabitants
• Washington (Chair) & Robert Harrison (clerk)
• Called for importation agreement (Boycott), reaffirmed Constitutional rights solidarity with Mass., which was occupied by Britain armies.
• Colonists were a free people
• No law but by consent
• Representation only possible in America
• Parliament doesn’t have absolute legislative power
o Machiavelli: Don’t be stupid and give absolute power to those that represent you.
• Taxation with representation inseparable
• British lied about American intentions, broke compacts, dissolved govt., violated constitutional rights (unwritten)
• VA will support other colonies
Summary View of the Rights of British America (1774)
Thomas Jefferson
• Jefferson is a Radical Whig
o Supports popular sovereignty
o Right to revolution
• Parliament has no power in America
• King has limited power and role to protect
• America has popular sovereignty & conquest rights (if anything else is lost we still conquered this land) as a free & separate people from England
Jefferson to Madison 1787
o Separating the executive is right
o Judiciary is already in the A of C.
o Needs a federal act.
o Congress must watch and restrain judiciary.
o There will be no power above congress.
o Liberal in these days meant limited constitution & government which protects freedom.
Madison to GW (April 16, 1787)
Rise of National Supremacy & Decline of the States
o Some states are greater than others.
o There must be balance to allow equality of states and at the same time popular sovereignty and more representation.
o National supremacy over key areas, allow local controls of government to stay.
o National government should have complete authority in all cases for general government.
o This system was more national than what we ended up with. However, the Confederates help temper the plan.
o Majority of the states were trampling on the rights of the minority. Nobody is safe when this happens.
o Stronger national government needed to moderate and balance and protect minority.
o National Supremacy needed to be in the Judiciary.
• Article 6 was wanted by Madison and company since the start.
