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?