Different Conceptions of American Equality and Liberty at Different Periods in American History
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2000
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Haverford College. Department of Political Science
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Award
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eng
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Haverford users only
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Abstract
Equality and liberty are two of most fundamental values of American democracy. However, what do those words mean in American democracy? These words are used constantly in debating the past, present, and future merits of American politics, policies, and society, despite the fact that most people are unclear about what these words embody. Part of the reason for the confusion surrounding equality and liberty is that there have been different conceptions of them throughout our history. Furthermore, the level of acceptance of the different conceptions in society has changed over time as well. Thus, conceptions of equality and liberty that were held by a percentage of Americans at the Revolution became the dominant conception of equality and liberty later in American history. At the same time another widely held conception of equality and liberty at the Founding would be considered a radical belief 200 years later. The goal in looking at these various conceptions of equality and liberty at different periods of American history is not to determine if one view is superior to the other. Rather, the goal is to clarify some of the ambiguity surrounding these words by observing various conceptions of equality and liberty during the Revolution and the late eighteenth century and the 1960's. Hopefully by clarifying conceptions of equality and liberty in the past, it will make it easier to constructively use these values to shape the future. It must be emphasized that this discussion is about conceptions of equality and liberty, not necessarily definitions. Thus, these various sources are not used as modern authorities on the subjects as defined by us, but rather as a sampling of viewpoints at these different times. Granted, these selections do not represent every possible view, but rather a cross-section of differing views of the time. Thus, while Crevecoeur's account, for example, is fictional, the analysis of his writing is based upon the assumption that he was representing and drawing upon some of the major themes present in American society at the time. The same can be said of the following analysis on the ideas of Abraham Clark, James Madison, William Manning, and Thomas Jefferson. In a political process model that truly traced the development of the concepts of equality and liberty in America, later events and views intervening between the Revolution and the 1960's would be given their due. Unfortunately, time and space constraints prevent such a model, and thus while other political events and thinking may be touched upon, they are not a cornerstone of this analysis.