2305+-+Natural+Rights,+Separated+Powers,+and+the+Declaration+of+Independence


 * Power Points:**

This is the full set - I'll try to have a condensed version up soon, but use this in the meantime



Click here for the above information as a text file:




 * Description:**

In this section we will look at the historical developments that helped establish the argument contained in the Declaration of Independence. We will follow two separate - but related - stories, one institutional, the other philosophical.

The philosophical story will help us understand how the notion that governments exist in order to secure the natural rights of the individual evolved. At one point, the dominant idea was that government exist in order to preserve a preordained social order with the king at the top. This was the "divine right" of the monarch. As we will see, this was successfully challenged, and replaced with arguments - mostly attributed to John Locke - that undermined divine rule and replaced it with the idea that people are born with rights, but that these rights are insecure unless secured by a governing force based on the consent of the governed. This of course is a major component of the DOI. The idea that people have natural rights.

The institutional story touches on the gradual development of separate governing institutions (executive, legislative and judicial) that are eventually in a position to check and balance each other. The most important aspect of this is the development in Britain of a strong legislative branch that can check - what had been - the arbitrary power of the monarch. We will trace - loosely - a path taken from the Magna Carta through the English Bill of Rights where what had been absolute monarchic power became transformed into a constitutional monarchy which provided a model for our constitutional system. There are certain things that a monarch cannot do. A large part of the DOI contains grievances against the monarch which argue that he violated those restrictions. He was establishing a tyranny, which as we will see means that he was trying to consolidate legislative, executive and judicial power under his authority. The DOI explicitly states that anyone who attempts to do so is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Aside from coming to terms with what the Declaration of Independence says and why it says it, I want to emphasize the historical nature of the document and how its arguments are the product of centuries of history, specifically British history since the US began its existence as a collection of British colonies.


 * Goals:**

After reading through the material above, you should be able to address the following:

- What is the actual content of the Declaration of Independence. What argument does the document make? - How is the DOI is the product of history? What is that history? - What is an "institution." How have governing institutions developed over time? - What was the Magna Carta? What did the Magna Carta attempt to accomplish? - What was the British (or English) Bill of Rights? What did it attempt to accomplish? Why was it more successful than the Magna Carta? Be able to identify the highlighted parts of the Magna Carta, especially the Security Clause. - Why was the development of a legislature instrumental in limiting the power of the monarch. - What was the doctrine of the Divine Right of the King? What was the basis of the argument supporting it? How did John Locke argue against it? - What is a natural right? What was Locke's argument supporting the doctrine of natural rights. - Why is reason central to Locke's theory of natural rights? - Be able to define key components of the English Bill of Rights. Which ones would later be included in the US Constitution. - What is the state of nature? What role does it play in social contract theory? - Why is consent central to Locke's argument, and to the DOI? - Be familiar with the grievances listed in the DOI. - Why was the DOI not a Constitution?


 * Terms:**

- Institutions - Magna Carta - Petition of Right - British Bill of Rights - natural rights - natural law - unalienable rights - John Locke - divine right of the monarch - Charles I - First Treatise on Government - Second Treatise on Government - reason - the state of nature - human nature - social contract theory - patriarch - grievances - tyranny