Benjamin Franklin and His Enemies

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Benjamin Franklin and His Enemies Benjamin Franklin and His Enemies http://content.cdlib.org/xtf/view?docId=ft4d5nb373&chunk.id=0&doc.v... Preferred Citation: Middlekauff, Robert. Benjamin Franklin and His Enemies. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1996. http://ark.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/ft4d5nb373/ Benjamin Franklin and His Enemies Robert Middlekauff UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS Berkeley · Los Angeles · Oxford © 1996 The Regents of the University of California For Beverly Preferred Citation: Middlekauff, Robert. Benjamin Franklin and His Enemies. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1996. http://ark.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/ft4d5nb373/ For Beverly ― ix ― Preface Benjamin Franklin in the pages that follow is not the "harmonious human multitude" depicted in Carl Van Doren's great biography. Franklin certainly possessed a multitude of talents, and his achievements in a variety of fields were enormous. But though his psyche had its harmonies, he was sometimes out of tune with himself and his world. This book seeks to see him under the pressure of enemies, several of whom were deeply interesting men-and one, John Adams, a good and, perhaps, great man. It is, in a sense, also about the force of the passions in history, including love and friendship, but mostly hatred, anger, scorn, the feelings enemies have for one another. It looks at a man, Benjamin Franklin, and at others around him in crisis, entangled in the affairs of eighteenth-century government and the diplomatic relations among nations. The American Revolution plays an important part in this story, but so does the politics of a British colony, Pennsylvania, before the Revolution. Revolutions and politics, primarily public events (upheavals of masses of people, wars) are made by organized institutions, factions, interest groups, leaders and led. In analyzing them, historians usually resort to studying their "objective" circumstances-their sources in society and economics, the ideas that 1 of 132 7/11/2006 3:04 PM Benjamin Franklin and His Enemies http://content.cdlib.org/xtf/view?docId=ft4d5nb373&chunk.id=0&doc.v... draw their support, the resources that make possible the movements that ― x ― shape them, and the wars that the participants fight. This book makes use of such accounts, for they are the stuff of written history. But its central assumptions are that emotions are as important as objective circumstances and that they are usually inseparable from what can be counted and measured and seen. It seeks to demonstrate that even in Benjamin Franklin, a rationalist and the preeminent American philosophe, the affective side of life throbbed and influenced virtually all that seemed so rational. I trust that this book also says something about Franklin's time. The era of the American Revolution, after all, was a period of enormous passion, and its politics translated into intense, galvanizing, organizing animosities. The study of these animosities-which often became passionate hatreds-can be made into an important device for viewing the era and its issues. Franklin and many of those he dealt with in America and Europe translated their political beliefs, hopes, and fears into intensely personal terms. This process of translation may not have been admirable, but it was a form of acting on principle. The passing of English power in America, with all that meant for English aristocratic and gentry classes, generated passions of extraordinary power in England and America. Franklin and his enemies shared these feelings-and acted on them. Franklin responded unevenly to crisis-sometimes calling on his intellectual resources, which were of a very high order, and sometimes ignoring reason and fact in favor of giving expression to a dark side of his passions when fear and anger took over. He lost his political equilibrium when he was in middle age and behaved foolishly, persuading a good many others, mostly in Pennsylvania, to behave in a similar way. But he was at his best as an old man, his good judgment restored, in the service of his country in Paris. Franklin's enemies were of several sorts. I have tried to be fair ― xi ― to them and to Franklin. One of them, John Adams, has always seemed to me admirable, even though he was sometimes foolish and vain; but then so at times was Franklin. My comments about two of Franklin's modern enemies in the Prologue are meant to be suggestive and to point up the ironies of perception in the eighteenth and twentieth centuries. R.M. ― xiii ― Acknowledgments In the course of writing this book, I called upon many friends and institutions for help. I began it while I was director of the Henry E. Huntington Library and Art Gallery and finished it as a member of the faculty of the University of California, Berkeley. Both institutions support scholarship in a variety of ways. I wish to thank President Robert Skotheim of the Huntington and Martin Ridge, then Director of Research there, for a Fletcher Jones Fellowship in 1990-91, and for a variety of kindnesses. My own university provided stimulation and tangible support, especially through the Preston Hotchkis Chair. Claude-Anne Lopez and I originally planned to write the book together. Not long after we began our collaboration, Mrs. Lopez decided not to proceed. But she has remained an interested party, and she has been an inspiration to me. Her own books on Franklin, one co-authored with Eugenia W. Herbert, set a high standard. The Papers of Benjamin Franklin, to which Mrs. Lopez contributed for many years, has been the most important source for my study. I wish to acknowledge, however inadequately, its great distinction and the superb scholarship of its editors over the years: the late Leonard Labaree and William Willcox, Claude-Anne Lopez, and the present editor, Barbara Oberg. Dr. Oberg and her colleagues, especially Jonathan Dull and Kate Ohno, were wonderfully helpful to me when I worked in the unpublished papers in the Franklin collections at Yale University. ― xiv ― I owe much to Michael Zuckerman, who invited me to try out several ideas in 1991 in his Philadelphia seminar; to Leo Lemay, who provided a similar opportunity at the conference "Reappraising Franklin: A Bicentennial Perspective," held in Philadelphia in April 1990; and to The [San Francisco] Bay Area 2 of 132 7/11/2006 3:04 PM Benjamin Franklin and His Enemies http://content.cdlib.org/xtf/view?docId=ft4d5nb373&chunk.id=0&doc.v... Colonialists, who commented helpfully on a part of Chapter 4 in 1993. Librarians at the American Philosophical Society, in particular Ted Carter; the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, especially in the manuscripts room; and the Huntington Library, in particular Mary Robertson and Alan Jutzi, eased my way. John Van Home of the Library Company of Philadelphia and Mark Lloyd of the Pennsylvania Archives provided valuable information about sources. I am very grateful to colleagues who read all or parts of this study, much to its profit: James Thorpe, the former Director of the Huntington and Paul Zall, a Research Scholar there; Gunther Barth, James Kettner, Lawrence Levine, Nicholas Riasanovsky, and Irwin Scheiner of my department. Several students also helped in various ways-Mark Cachia-Riedl, Jacqueline Frobose, Brian Gregg, and Ralph Squillace. My greatest debt is to my beloved wife, Beverly. ― xv ― Prologue: The Modern Enemies There were those in Franklin's time who thought virtue and morality fell too easily from his tongue. The aphorisms he made famous in Poor Richard's Almanac frequently advise good conduct. They urge restraint in eating and drinking, caution in choosing friends; and they suggest that a man should select his wife with his eyes wide open and when the deed is done, close them. They also more commonly praise hard work, saving time, frugality. Not content to give such counsel, Franklin lived a life that exemplified the virtues he advocated and then wrote his Autobiography telling about his success in practicing what he preached. Franklin did much more of course. Almost any of his major achievements would have satisfied an ordinary man. He was a successful businessman, retiring from business when he was forty-two; in retirement he turned his attention to electricity and dazzled the learned of the century with his experiments. While he did such things, and sat in the legislature at the same time, he served his city in various ways, getting its streets paved and lighted and establishing a fire department, a lending library, schools, and a hospital among other useful institutions. He represented his province in Britain and, a little later, his country in Paris. And through it all, he wrote essays, doggerel, letters, reports of great interest and sometimes of distinction. ― xvi ― A later age celebrated his achievements, admired his virtues, and wrote his biography over and over again. There is no state named after him, but just about every other sort of institution has been-schools, towns, cities, hospitals, colleges, a mint, and many children as well. All the celebration and honor seem just and appropriate given his achievements. But such a paragon makes many uneasy. Franklin has too many accomplishments, and he has perhaps received too much commendation. This age in particular seems put off by all that has come to him by way of praise. For Franklin's virtues are those not prized in our time, a period of slack, an age that has made leisure an occupation, one that celebrates the liberated spirit-and flesh-not the disciplined mind. Even in the nineteenth century, a sterner time than our own but also a century much given to moralism not far different from Franklin's, there were skeptics or critics fond of mocking the high-mindedness of Franklin and his apparently ceaseless efforts to do good.
Recommended publications
  • The American Experience with Diplomacy and Military Restraint I
    PART I: THE AmERICAN EXPERIENCE WITH DIPLOMACY AND MILITARY RESTRAINT i. Orphaned Diplomats: The American Struggle to Match Diplomacy with Power Jeremi Suri E. Gordon Fox Professor of History and Director, European Union Center of Excellence, University of Wisconsin, Madison Benjamin Franklin spent the American Revolution in Paris. He had helped to draft the Declaration of Independence in the summer of 1776, one of the most radical documents of the eighteenth century—sparking rebellion on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. Serving as a representative for the Continental Congress in France during the next decade, Franklin became a celebrity. He was the enlightened idealist from the frontier, the man of principled action who enthralled onlookers in the rigid European class societies of the 1770s and ’80s. Franklin embodied the American critique of Old World society, economy, and diplomacy. He was one of many American revolutionaries to take aim at the degenerate world of powdered wigs, fancy uniforms, and silver-service dinners where the great men of Europe decided the fate of distant societies. Franklin was a representative of the enduring American urge to replace the diplomacy of aristocrats with the openness and freedom of democrats.1 Despite his radical criticisms of aristocracy, Franklin was also a prominent participant in Parisian salons. To the consternation of John Adams and John Jay, he dined most evenings with the most conservative elements of French high society. Unlike Adams, he did not refuse to dress the part. For all his frontiers- man claims, Franklin relished high-society silver-service meals, especially if generous portions of wine were available for the guests.
    [Show full text]
  • Pen & Parchment: the Continental Congress
    Adams National Historical Park National Park Service U.S. Department of Interior PEN & PARCHMENT INDEX 555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555 a Letter to Teacher a Themes, Goals, Objectives, and Program Description a Resources & Worksheets a Pre-Visit Materials a Post Visit Mterialss a Student Bibliography a Logistics a Directions a Other Places to Visit a Program Evaluation Dear Teacher, Adams National Historical Park is a unique setting where history comes to life. Our school pro- grams actively engage students in their own exciting and enriching learning process. We hope that stu- dents participating in this program will come to realize that communication, cooperation, sacrifice, and determination are necessary components in seeking justice and liberty. The American Revolution was one of the most daring popular movements in modern history. The Colonists were challenging one of the most powerful nations in the world. The Colonists had to decide whether to join other Patriots in the movement for independence or remain loyal to the King. It became a necessity for those that supported independence to find ways to help America win its war with Great Britain. To make the experiment of representative government work it was up to each citi- zen to determine the guiding principles for the new nation and communicate these beliefs to those chosen to speak for them at the Continental Congress. Those chosen to serve in the fledgling govern- ment had to use great statesmanship to follow the directions of those they represented while still find- ing common ground to unify the disparate colonies in a time of crisis. This symbiotic relationship between the people and those who represented them was perhaps best described by John Adams in a letter that he wrote from the Continental Congress to Abigail in 1774.
    [Show full text]
  • Founding-Era Jus Ad Bellum and the Domestic Law of Treaty Withdrawal
    DANIEL J. HESSEL Founding-Era Jus Ad Bellum and the Domestic Law of Treaty Withdrawal ABSTRACT. The Constitution provides no textual guidance for how, as a matter of domestic law, the United States can withdraw from an Article II treaty. The Supreme Court has not clarified matters. In the face of this uncertainty, government officials and scholars alike have long debated whether the President may unilaterally withdraw from a treaty or whether Congress has a role to play. This Note contributes to the debate by examining the relationship between treaty withdrawal and war powers through an originalist lens. Through close assessment of the contemporaneous jus ad bellum, the Note concludes that, at the Founding, treaty withdrawal presented a clear justification for war. Treaty withdrawal therefore implicates the War Powers Clause, which assigns primary responsibility for initiating war to Congress. Because the Founders and their contemporaries likely saw treaty withdrawal as a matter of war and peace, and because the Constitution entrusts Congress with the power to commence war, this Note concludes that the original understanding of the Constitution supports a role for Congress in treaty withdrawal. AUTHO R. Yale Law School, J.D. 2016. I am indebted to Professors Oona Hathaway and Lea Brilmayer for their supervision and guidance. I am grateful to Rebecca Crootof and Professors Bruce Ackerman, Curtis Bradley, Harold Hongju Koh, and Michael Reisman for their insights, and to my family members and friends who read early drafts of this Note. For their constructive feedback, careful editing, and patience, I thank Alexander Kazam, Elizabeth Ingriselli, Charlie Bridge, Rebecca Lee, Michael Clemente, and the editors of the Yale Lawjournal.
    [Show full text]
  • Downloading Material Is Agreeing to Abide by the Terms of the Repository Licence
    Cronfa - Swansea University Open Access Repository _____________________________________________________________ This is an author produced version of a paper published in: Transactions of the Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion Cronfa URL for this paper: http://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa40899 _____________________________________________________________ Paper: Tucker, J. Richard Price and the History of Science. Transactions of the Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion, 23, 69- 86. _____________________________________________________________ This item is brought to you by Swansea University. Any person downloading material is agreeing to abide by the terms of the repository licence. Copies of full text items may be used or reproduced in any format or medium, without prior permission for personal research or study, educational or non-commercial purposes only. The copyright for any work remains with the original author unless otherwise specified. The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holder. Permission for multiple reproductions should be obtained from the original author. Authors are personally responsible for adhering to copyright and publisher restrictions when uploading content to the repository. http://www.swansea.ac.uk/library/researchsupport/ris-support/ 69 RICHARD PRICE AND THE HISTORY OF SCIENCE John V. Tucker Abstract Richard Price (1723–1791) was born in south Wales and practised as a minister of religion in London. He was also a keen scientist who wrote extensively about mathematics, astronomy, and electricity, and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. Written in support of a national history of science for Wales, this article explores the legacy of Richard Price and his considerable contribution to science and the intellectual history of Wales.
    [Show full text]
  • A Republican Abroad: John Adams and the Diplomacy of the American Revolution
    W&M ScholarWorks Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects 1991 A Republican Abroad: John Adams and the Diplomacy of the American Revolution Robert Wilmer Smith College of William & Mary - Arts & Sciences Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.wm.edu/etd Part of the International Relations Commons, and the United States History Commons Recommended Citation Smith, Robert Wilmer, "A Republican Abroad: John Adams and the Diplomacy of the American Revolution" (1991). Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects. Paper 1539625694. https://dx.doi.org/doi:10.21220/s2-ggdh-n397 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects at W&M ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects by an authorized administrator of W&M ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. A REPUBLICAN ABROAD: JOHN ADAMS AND THE DIPLOMACY OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION A Thesis Presented to The Faculty of the Department of History The College of William and Mary in Virginia In Partial Fulfilment Of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts By Robert W. Smith, Jr. 1991 APPROVAL SHEET This thesis is submitted in partial fulfillment the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Robert W.Smith, Jy. Approved, April 1991 Joh: . Selbv Edward P. Crapcjl Thomas F. Sheppa TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS................................ iv ABSTRACT......................................... v INTRODUCTION.....................................2 PART I. A VIRTUOUS REPUBLIC.....................5 PART II. A COMMERCIAL REPUBLIC................ 16 PART III. THE DIPLOMACY OF A SHORT WAR......... 27 PART IV. JOHN ADAMS IN PARIS...................38 PART V.
    [Show full text]
  • John Adams and the Diplomacy of the American Revolution
    University of Kentucky UKnowledge Diplomatic History History 1980 John Adams and the Diplomacy of the American Revolution James H. Hutson Library of Congress Click here to let us know how access to this document benefits ou.y Thanks to the University of Kentucky Libraries and the University Press of Kentucky, this book is freely available to current faculty, students, and staff at the University of Kentucky. Find other University of Kentucky Books at uknowledge.uky.edu/upk. For more information, please contact UKnowledge at [email protected]. Recommended Citation Hutson, James H., "John Adams and the Diplomacy of the American Revolution" (1980). Diplomatic History. 4. https://uknowledge.uky.edu/upk_diplomatic_history/4 JOHN ADAMS AND THE DIPLOMACY OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION JAMES H. HUTSON JOHN ADAMS AND THE DIPLOMACY OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION THE UNIVERSITY PRESS OF KENTUCKY FOR KATHY Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Hutson, James H John Adarns and the diplomacy of the American Revolution Bibliography: p. Includes Index. 1. United States-Foreign relations-Revolution, 1775-1783 2. Adams, John, Pres. U. S., 1735- 1826. I. Title. E249.H87 973.3'2'0924 79-57575 ISBN 978-0-8 13 1-53 14-8 Copyright@ 1980 by The University Press of Kentucky Scholarly publisher for the Commonwealth serving Berea College, Centre College of Kentucky, Eastern Kentucky University, The Filson Club, Georgetown College, Kentucky Historical Society, Kentucky State University, Morehead State University, Murray State University, Northern Kentucky University, Transylvania University, University of Kentucky, University of Louisville, and Western Kentucky University. Editorial andSaLes Ofices: Lexington, Kentucky 40506 CONTENTS Acknowledgments vii Chapter 1 Formulating an American Foreign Policy 1 Chapter 2 France, 1778-1779 33 Chapter 3 France Again, 1780 5 1 Chapter 4 The Netherlands 75 Chapter 5 Dutch Recognition 102 Chapter 6 Peace Negotiations 117 Chapter 7 John Adarns and Revolutionary Diplomacy 142 Notes 157 A Note on Sources 191 Index 193 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Edmund S.
    [Show full text]
  • Cavendish the Experimental Life
    Cavendish The Experimental Life Revised Second Edition Max Planck Research Library for the History and Development of Knowledge Series Editors Ian T. Baldwin, Gerd Graßhoff, Jürgen Renn, Dagmar Schäfer, Robert Schlögl, Bernard F. Schutz Edition Open Access Development Team Lindy Divarci, Georg Pflanz, Klaus Thoden, Dirk Wintergrün. The Edition Open Access (EOA) platform was founded to bring together publi- cation initiatives seeking to disseminate the results of scholarly work in a format that combines traditional publications with the digital medium. It currently hosts the open-access publications of the “Max Planck Research Library for the History and Development of Knowledge” (MPRL) and “Edition Open Sources” (EOS). EOA is open to host other open access initiatives similar in conception and spirit, in accordance with the Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the sciences and humanities, which was launched by the Max Planck Society in 2003. By combining the advantages of traditional publications and the digital medium, the platform offers a new way of publishing research and of studying historical topics or current issues in relation to primary materials that are otherwise not easily available. The volumes are available both as printed books and as online open access publications. They are directed at scholars and students of various disciplines, and at a broader public interested in how science shapes our world. Cavendish The Experimental Life Revised Second Edition Christa Jungnickel and Russell McCormmach Studies 7 Studies 7 Communicated by Jed Z. Buchwald Editorial Team: Lindy Divarci, Georg Pflanz, Bendix Düker, Caroline Frank, Beatrice Hermann, Beatrice Hilke Image Processing: Digitization Group of the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science Cover Image: Chemical Laboratory.
    [Show full text]
  • Introduction
    Notes INTRODUCTION 1. Harper's, 'Is there Virtue in Profit: Reconsidering the Morality of Capitalism', vol. 273 (December 1986 ), 38. 2. Joyce Appleby, Capitalism and a New Social Order: The Republican Vision of the 1790s (New York, 1984), 25-50. 3. John M. McCusker & Russell R. Menard, The Economy of British America, 1607-1789 (Chapel Hill, 1985), 71. On the importance of overseas trade to individuals' income in the colonies see Alice Hansen Jones, Wealth of a Nation: The American Colonies on the Eve of the Revolution (New York, 1980), 65-66. 4. James A. Field Jr., 'All Economists, All Diplomats', in William H. Becker and Samuel F. Wells Jr., eds, Economic and World Power (New York, 1989), 1. 5. Jefferson to James Madison, January 30, 1787; to William Stephen Smith, November 13, 1787, Julian P. Boyd et al. eds, The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, 24 vols to date (Princeton, 1950- , hereafter Jefferson Papers), XI, 93, XII, 356. 6. Richard K. Mathews, The Radical Politics of Thomas Jefferson: A Revisionist View (Lawrence, Kansas, 1984), 122. 7. James Madison toN. P. Trist, May 1832, Gillard Hunted., The Writings of James Madison 9 vols (New York, 1900-1910) IX, 479. 8. Dumas Malone, Jefferson and his Time, 6 vols (Boston 1948-1981), vol. 1: Jefferson the Virginian vol. 2: Jefferson and the Rights of Man; vol. 3: Jefferson and the Ordeal Liberty; vol. 4: Jefferson the President: First Term, 1801-1805; vol. 5: Jefferson the President: Second Term, 1805-1809; vol. 6: The Sage of Monticello. 9. Merrill Peterson, Thomas Jefferson and the new Nation: A Biography (New York, 1970); idem, The Jefferson ]mage in the American Mind (New York, 1960).
    [Show full text]
  • Identity and Identification in the American Revolution
    Americans on Paper: Identity and Identification in the American Revolution The Harvard community has made this article openly available. Please share how this access benefits you. Your story matters Citation Huffman, John Michael. 2013. Americans on Paper: Identity and Identification in the American Revolution. Doctoral dissertation, Harvard University. Citable link http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:11181108 Terms of Use This article was downloaded from Harvard University’s DASH repository, and is made available under the terms and conditions applicable to Other Posted Material, as set forth at http:// nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:dash.current.terms-of- use#LAA Americans on Paper: Identity and Identification in the American Revolution A dissertation presented by John Michael Huffman to The Department of History in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the subject of History Harvard University Cambridge, Massachusetts August 2013 © 2013 John Michael Huffman All rights reserved. Advisor: Professor Joyce E. Chaplin John Michael Huffman Americans on Paper: Identity and Identification in the American Revolution Abstract The American Revolution brought with it a crisis of identification. The political divisions that fragmented American society did not distinguish adherents of the two sides in any outward way. Yet the new American governments had to identify their citizens; potential citizens themselves had to choose and prove their identities; and both sides of the war had to distinguish friend from foe. Subordinated groups who were notionally excluded from but deeply affected by the Revolutionary contest found in the same crisis new opportunity to seize control over their own identities.
    [Show full text]
  • *1573 the Limits of National Security
    Jamshidi, Maryam 8/15/2019 For Educational Use Only THE LIMITS OF NATIONAL SECURITY, 48 Am. Crim. L. Rev. 1573 48 Am. Crim. L. Rev. 1573 American Criminal Law Review Fall, 2011 Symposium: Moving Targets: Issues at the Intersection of National Security and American Criminal Law Article Laura K. Donohuea1 Copyright © 2012 by American Criminal Law Review; Laura K. Donohue *1573 THE LIMITS OF NATIONAL SECURITY I. INTRODUCTION 1574 II. DEFINING U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY 1577 III. THE FOUR EPOCHS 1587 A. Protecting the Union: 1776-1898 1589 1. International Independence and Economic Growth 1593 2. Retreat to Union 1611 3. Return to International Independence and Economic Growth 1617 a. Tension Between Expansion and Neutrality 1618 b. Increasing Number of Domestic Power-Bases 1623 B. Formative International Engagement and Domestic Power: 1898-1930 1630 1. Political, Economic, and Military Concerns 1630 a. Military Might 1637 b. Secondary Inquiry: From Rule of Law to Type of Law 1638 2. Tension Between the Epochs: Independence v. Engagement 1645 © 2019 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works. 1 Jamshidi, Maryam 8/15/2019 For Educational Use Only THE LIMITS OF NATIONAL SECURITY, 48 Am. Crim. L. Rev. 1573 3. Expanding National Spheres of Influence 1650 C. The Ascendance of National Security: 1930-1989 1657 1. A New Domestic Order 1658 a. Re-channeling of Law Enforcement to National Security 1661 b. The Threat of Totalitarianism 1665 c. The Purpose of the State 1666 2. Changing International Role: From Authoritarianism to Containment 1669 3. Institutional Questions and the National Security Act of 1947 1672 a.
    [Show full text]
  • Declarations of Independence Since 1776* DAVID ARMITAGE Harvard
    South African Historical Journal, 52 (2005), 1-18 The Contagion of Sovereignty: Declarations of Independence since 1776* DAVID ARMITAGE Harvard University The great political fact of global history in the last 500 years is the emergence of a world of states from a world of empires. That fact – more than the expansion of democracy, more than nationalism, more than the language of rights, more even than globalisation – fundamentally defines the political universe we all inhabit. States have jurisdiction over every part of the Earth’s land surface, with the exception of Antarctica. The only states of exception – such as Guantánamo Bay – are the exceptions created by states.1 At least potentially, states also have jurisdiction over every inhabitant of the planet: to be a stateless person is to wander an inhospitable world in quest of a state’s protection. An increasing number of the states that make up that world have adopted democratic systems of representation and consultation, though many competing, even inconsistent, versions of democracy can exist beneath the carapace of the state.2 Groups that identify themselves as nations have consistently sought to realise their identities through assertions of statehood. The inhabitants of the resulting states have increasingly made their claims to representation and consultation in the language of rights. Globalisation has made possible the proliferation of the structures of democracy and of the language of rights just as it has helped to spread statehood around the world. Yet all of these developments – democratisation, nationalism, the diffusion of rights-talk and globalisation itself – have had to contend with the stubbornness of states as the basic datum of political existence.
    [Show full text]
  • Very Rough Draft
    Friends and Colleagues: Intellectual Networking in England 1760-1776 Master‟s Thesis Presented to The Faculty of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Brandeis University Department of Comparative History Mark Hulliung, Advisor In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for Master‟s Degree by Jennifer M. Warburton May 2010 Copyright by Jennifer Warburton May 2010 ABSTRACT Friends and Colleagues: Intellectual Networking in England 1760- 1776 A Thesis Presented to the Comparative History Department Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Brandeis University Waltham, Massachusetts By Jennifer Warburton The study of English intellectualism during the latter half of the Eighteenth Century has been fairly limited. Either historians study individual figures, individual groups or single debates, primarily that following the French Revolution. My paper seeks to find the origins of this French Revolution debate through examining the interactions between individuals and the groups they belonged to in order to transcend the segmentation previous scholarship has imposed. At the center of this study are a series of individuals, most notably Joseph Priestley, Richard Price, Benjamin Franklin, Dr. John Canton, Rev. Theophilus Lindsey and John Jebb, whose friendships and interactions among such diverse disciplines as religion, science and politics characterized the collaborative yet segmented nature of English society, which contrasted so dramatically with the salon culture of their French counterparts. iii Table of Contents INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................
    [Show full text]