Stamp Act?

Question

Objecting to the Stamp Act, educated Americans drew on all of the following historical precedents or intellectual traditions except


a.Enlightenment rationalism.

b.English common law.

c.democratic traditions dating from the Protestant Reformation.

d.Puritan and Whig ideas dating from England's Commonwealth era and the Glorious Revolution.


I got this question wrong on my test and was wondering the right answer. thanks

Answer 1

(You may not need all of this--esp the last piece-- but I found it very helpful to try to put in all together, and do hope that's also of some use to you and others who stumble by.)

A bit tricky, but definitely C - "democratic traditions dating from the Protestant Reformation"

The other three are all clearly found. Here is part of a nice summary of these three "Ideological Sources of Resistance", from Encarta:

"Educated colonists mounted an ideological attack on the new British policies. They drew inspiration from THREE intellectual traditions.

(1) "The first tradition was ENGLISH COMMON LAW, the centuries-old body of legal rules and procedures that protected the king’s subjects against arbitrary acts by other subjects or by the government.

(2) "A second major intellectual resource was the AGE OF ENLIGHTENMENT in Europe during the 18th century. Unlike common-law attorneys, who valued precedent, Enlightenment philosophers questioned the past and appealed to reason. Many of them followed 17th-century English philosopher John Locke in believing that all individuals possessed certain “natural rights”—such as life, liberty, and the pursuit of property—and that it was the responsibility of government to protect those rights.

(3) "The English political tradition provided a third ideological basis for the American resistance. EARLY ENGLISH WHIGS had resisted the arbitrary power exercised by the Stuart kings before 1689 and had sought to limit the authority of the Crown and to increase the power of Parliament. . . ."
http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761569964_3/American_Revolution.html

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COMMENTS

Most people know about the Enlightenment influence, esp. of John Locke on "natural rights"

The appeal to the Puritan and Whig ideas is also very clear, even in the FORM of official documents such as the Declaration of Independence, which borrows from the "English Bill of Rights" of 1689 (by which Parliament officially justified the Glorious Revolution)
http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/england.htm

And here's just a bit more on the Common Law arguments - http://oll.libertyfund.org/?option=com_staticxt&staticfile=show.php%3Ftitle=1291&chapter=100202&layout=html&Itemid=27

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The reason this is tricky is that the Reformed-based traditions of the Puritans WERE an important piece of colonial thought. BUT the problem is with the words

a) DATING - it is doubtful that we can trace these specific ideas went as far back as the Reformation itself (as opposed to a distinctive Puritan development),

b) DEMOCRATIC - not really the right description (though the idea of SELF-government by the 'consent of the governed' in covenant/compact with each other IS a key Puritan contribution, as seen, e.g., in the Mayflower Compact)

ALSO, though these traditions WERE very important in shaping thought and argument, they themselves were NOT something the colonists specifically appealed to in the objections to British laws, etc. (That explains why many writings, like the Encarta article, do not mention it, sometimes do not even notice its importance at all... though it PRECEDED and in many ways was more fundamental to "self-government" thought than was John Locke's way of framing the matter. Locke was a development of the THEORY, the New England tradition was theory APPLIED.)

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But the New England contribution is NOT overlooked in the the classic work by Bernard Bailyn, *The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution* (Harvard University Press, 1967).

This book began as a long (and BRILLIANT!) essay to introduce his study of the political pamphlets of the period leading up to the Revolution. Bailyn examined the VARIOUS sources and traditions that came together to shape the thinking expressed in these pamphlets, and later in the key founding documents of the U.S.

Here, from his opening chapter, is the cluster of important traditions he recognized (marking the three above AND that of New England covenant thought):

1) Works from classical antiquity (esp the political history of Rome)
**2) Enlightenment ideas on government and natural rights (mainly Locke)
**3) Traditions/the history of English Common Law, esp. as expounded by 17th century British authors.
**4) Political and social theories of New England Puritanism, esp. ideas associated with covenant theology
**5) The radical political and social thought of the English Civil War and Commonwealth period up to the Glorious Revolution -- that is 'opposition' authors of the late 17th and early 18th century

(Bailyn's specific argument for what its worth, is that the LAST of these in bringing together the other (sometimes conflicting)
traditions. He goes on to demonstrate this from pamphlets written at the time, against the Stamp Act, etc.)

Answer 2

who was involved with the Stamp Act?

Answer 3

my guess is b. they were against the english common law hence the reason for the revolt to begin with. they were being taxed without representation from england.

Answer 4

my guess is A

I din't think politics has anything to do with enlightenment or rationalism

Answer 5

Stamp act didn't work much, so they went with stomp act.