Review Essay: Democracy In The 17th And 18th Century

Review Essay 2: Democracy in the 17th and 18th centuries

“The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.” Thomas Jefferson, one of our founding fathers, firmly believed that the defense of democracy was neither easy nor straightforward, and stated this unambiguously several times. This conviction has been demonstrated to be correct throughout the history of the nation. It is clear that the drive towards democracy requires both sacrifice and vigilance against oppression; as well as requiring thoughtful contemplation and deliberate reaction to events that will serve as defining moments in the journey towards equality. Understanding these landmark events is key to understanding the trajectory of

The Enlightenment was, in essence, a spirit of discovery. It was the idea that the most reliable way to learn about the world around us was through observation. This expanded into a revolutionary cultural force that entirely shifted the way that people interacted both with each other and with their environments. It encouraged people, first and foremost, to think for themselves. If they felt as though they lacked the tools for this, or if perhaps a person wanted to learn how to think better, he was now encouraged to obtain a university education. These educated people were so enamored with reason, and with the idea that all people were reasonable, that despite the intellectual and academic advances there was an idealism that was almost naive. The educated believed so wholeheartedly in universal rationality that they ceased to worry overmuch about the consequences of their work. Many of them wholeheartedly believed that solid Truth would be instantly recognized and accepted, and that everyone, through their works, would be able to see the world that they themselves did. The very first words in the revolutionary text Common Sense by Thomas Paine are “Perhaps the sentiments contained in the following pages, are not yet sufficiently fashionable to procure them general favor; a long habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being right, and raises at first a formidable

The clergy were often very scholarly and very skilled in rhetoric; something that their parishioners were exposed to through their minister. Christians who learned from a learned clergyman were often encouraged to absorb this scholarship by reading and questioning that which they were told. Bible studies embody this zealous curiosity driven by religious fervor and pastoral scholarship. This scholarship and education existed within a polity that, if examined at all, reflects democracy back — almost in its entirety. The Congregationalists (denominationally direct descendents of the Puritans) operate entirely by the will of the congregation as a whole. “The educated conscience of members of the Church is our sole guide to conduct,” and so the Congregation held meetings in which the finances were discussed, ministers were Called, and ministerial decisions were made. This is, obviously, very similar to the democracy of the United States of America, except on a simpler, micro level. If a congregation believed that its minister was not serving God, then that minister ceased to have authority over the parishioners. (Gray 3) (Taylor