Western Civilization and the Origins of American Political Life
Published by Jim on Thursday, January 4, 2007 at 5:10 AMThe Thread: Western Civilization and American Political Life
It all began with the Greeks:
- Plato (Socrates): The unexamined life is not worth living/Plato's Republic
- Sophocles: Reason is Man's crowning achievement
- Aristotle: Father of all Science: Rational Thought vs. Myth
- Sparta vs. Athens: The Peloponnesian Wars
Roman Contributions:
- Corpus Juris Civilis: Justinian
- Application of Greek Culture
- Organizational Systems
Middle Ages:
- Christianity
- St. Thomas Acquinus: Reason and Faith
- Claricos Laicos (exemption of taxes), Unum Sanctum, Estates General
- Medieval Universities
Renaissance:
- Individualism
- Humanism
- Martin Luther: Protestant Reformation
- Galileo: Science vs. Church Authority
Age of Enlightenment:
- Age of Reason
- Rise of the Common Man
- Age of Science and Discovery
- Voltaire, John Locke, Jean Jacques Rousseau, Thomas Paine, Thomas Hobbes
English Civil War:
- Magna Carta 1215, King John (limited government)
- Petition of Right 1625, Charles I (no: taxes w/o consent of Parliament, imprison w/o just cause, quarter troops in private homes, declare martial law w/o war)
- English Bill of Rights 1688, William & Mary invited to rule after Parliament removed James II as a tyrant. Rights applied to all Englishmen: no absolute power of monarchs, Parliament's consent needed for suspending laws, levying taxes, or maintianing an army; monarch may not interfere with parliamentary elections and debates; right to petition government and right to fair and speedy trial with a jury of peers; no cruel and unusual punishments or excessive fines or bail.
American Revolutionary War:
- Thomas Paine, Common Sense
- Declaration of Independence: Duty to overthrow tyrrany
- Life, Liberty, Pursuit of Happiness
- States/Federal
- U.S. Constitution: "We the People..."
French Revolution:
- Estates General
- Political Spectrum
- Liberty, Equality, Fraternity (nationalism)
- Cycle of Revolution
- Political Parties
- Napoleon Bonaparte
- Metric System, Encyclopedia, Napoleonic Code
- Art of Western Civilization: the Visual Arts and Music (Beethoven)
Liberalism/Reaction/Industrial Revolution
American Civil War:
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On Friday, we're going to take a look at two important documents: The Declaration of Independence (Thomas Jefferson)and The Gettysburg Address (Abraham Lincoln) as products of the Age of Enlightenment. Both documents are brilliant statements affirming and reaffirming the principles of American democracy. Consider please, what this "New Nation" is about and whether the American Revolution is over or continuing.