Stop for a moment and notice the thoughts you have as you read the title of
this essay. What ideas come to mind when you read the word
roots? How
about
American?
Democracy?
Whatever your thoughts are, they are uniquely your own. But most likely they
grew out of something you’ve heard or read, or maybe seen on TV or in the
movies. This is how most ideas grow. They start from something outside
ourselves. Then we make them our own and sometimes improve on them.
The Americans who led the Revolution and created the Constitution were no
different from you. Starting with other people’s ideas, they created the
government we live under today. The ideas they drew upon are the roots of
American democratic thinking and institutions. Let’s look at some of these
roots.
Religious Tradition
One important influence on early Americans was the Judeo-Christian religious
tradition. Nearly all the leaders of the Revolution believed in God. Most were
Christians whose ideas about human dignity and freedom owed much to the
teachings of the Bible. (The Bible includes sacred writings of both Judaism and
Christianity.) Many Americans saw human liberty not just in political terms,
but as a right bestowed by God.
Leaders like Thomas Jefferson were also influenced by the European
Enlightenment. The Enlightenment prized reason and observation as sources of
truth. Many Enlightenment thinkers sought a “natural religion” that was based
on observing the order and lawfulness of the universe. They thought of God as
the architect of this orderly universe. In discovering universal laws such as
gravity, they believed, scientists were revealing God’s laws for the natural
world. In a similar way, people could find the “natural law” that should govern
society. For thinkers like England’s John Locke, this natural law included
basic rights that no human law or ruler should violate.
That is why the Declaration of Independence speaks of “the Laws of Nature and
Nature’s God.” These words express Jefferson’s belief that liberty and equality
came from natural law—the law established by the God who created the world.
The English Parliamentary Tradition
In their thinking about government, early Americans drew on the English
parliamentary tradition. They knew it well because they had been English
subjects.
As far back as Magna Carta (1215), the English had put limits on the king’s
ability to rule as he pleased. For important matters like taxation, the king
needed approval from the leading citizens of his realm.
Over time, the English established Parliament as the body that represented the
king’s subjects. Parliament was divided into two houses. The House of Lords was
made up of aristocrats who held their position for life. The House of Commons
was made up of representatives elected by the people.
The framers of the Constitution adapted this tradition and made it more
democratic. In place of a king who ruled for life, they put a president who had
to run for reelection every four years. In place of Parliament, they created a
Congress with two houses. The Senate was designed to be a small, thoughtful
body, much like the House of Lords. Unlike English lords, however, senators had
to run for reelection every six years. Even the House of Representatives was
more democratic. In England, the House of Commons could go seven years without
elections. In the United States, every member of the House of Representatives
faced election every two years.
Classical Liberal Principles
Another aspect of the Enlightenment was a school of thought called
classical
liberalism. The most basic principle of classical liberalism was that
human beings could be trusted to decide what was best for themselves. The more
freedom people enjoyed, the better off society would be. Government should
therefore serve the people’s needs instead of the other way around.
These ideas had been argued forcefully by John Locke. His
Second Treatise on
Government was published in 1690, just as English parliamentary
tradition was taking its modern form. Locke’s book spoke of each man’s right to
“life, liberty, and estate [property].” Do these words sound familiar? Thomas
Jefferson changed them to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” for the
Declaration of Independence.
For Locke, property ownership was central to classical liberalism. (And no
wonder. He was a wealthy man, with investments in the silk and slave trades.)
This aspect of classical liberalism got a big boost from another English
thinker, Adam Smith. His book
The Wealth of Nations came out the same
year as the Declaration of Independence. Smith argued that the best way for a
nation to become wealthy was to let people conduct their business as they
pleased, free from government interference. This was another argument for the
liberty urged by classical liberalism.
Civic Republicanism
Classical liberalism’s optimistic belief in liberty had a weakness. Sometimes
people exercise their rights in ways that harm others. What if your next-door
neighbor plays loud music at three o’clock in the morning, waking up everyone
in your home? Should your neighbor be free to do as he pleases? To keep people
from using their freedom in selfish ways, early American leaders relied on the
idea of civic republicanism.
Civic republicanism went all the way back to the ancient Greeks, nearly 2,500
years ago. It called for citizens to do what was best for the republic (the
whole society), not just for themselves. Civic republicans would actively
participate in government. They would put unselfishness before greed, resist
political corruption, and play referee when two or more elements of society
competed for power. (Notice that this meaning of
republican applies to
everyone, not just members of today’s Republican Party.)
Many of the nation’s early leaders believed that civic republicanism depended
on citizens receiving a good education. “Establish the law for educating the
common people,” urged Thomas Jefferson. Today these words are inscribed in the
Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C. Part of the reason you are asked to
study American history is the hope that you, too, will be a civic republican.
Enrichment Activity
Create an illustration with these features:
| • |
at the top of the page, a large and strong tree, with
the word America on its trunk |
| • |
three roots beneath the tree with these three labels: English
Parliamentary Traditions, Civic Republicanism, and Classical Liberal
Principles
|
| • |
an explanation beneath each root that tells how each of these
ideas has influenced life in the United States |
