Freedom and independence in North America
As the U.S. is celebrating 250 years this summer, North Americans should look to history for encouragement and wisdom.
One of the turning points in British and Dutch history is the “Glorious Revolution” of 1688. It decisively influenced the development of Britain’s famously patchwork constitution, which remains until today. For the Dutch, it meant the forging of a military alliance with England against France, two Protestant commercial and naval powers united against Catholic absolutism. This alliance guaranteed the Dutch Republic’s security, freedom and prosperity for almost a century.
This summer is the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. The powerful liberal ideals expressed in the Declaration were incubated in the Dutch Republic and first tried out in actual politics in Britain after 1688. But while the British retained the traditional features of their political system, the Americans went on to design something new, based on the Enlightenment ideals of their time. Not everybody believed this new Republic would work; some of those who didn’t, moved to . . . Canada.
This seventeenth-century history is full of unexpected twists and turns, not to mention family drama. It is also an improbable success story – from a Protestant perspective, that is. Other nations, including First Nations, might have been better off if the French had prevailed.
Different narratives
So what happened in 1688? It depends who you ask. British historians have emphasized the united action of British notables against their king, James II, who ruled in French absolutist fashion. The Dutch might focus on William of Orange, who led the invasion that toppled James, his own father-in-law. Either way: Authoritarianism was defeated, civil rights were restored and religious zeal was channelled into a more tolerant political arrangement. A parliamentary system was developed and upheld by the new King William and Queen Mary.
Political theory offers a different vantage point. It can clarify why the British state under William and Mary would look much the same as before, but functioned better, with a clearer division of roles and clearer limits on its actions. At the basis of its enduring success were liberal values, articulated by John Locke, reportedly a covert atheist. Locke’s controversial writings, especially his Letter on Toleration, were carefully designed to keep religion, patriarchy and government in check for the sake of freedom. Their success is what the American founders built on almost a century later.
Limited government
Even good ideas can be misused, however. The Toronto Globe and Mail of May 30 reported on Doug Wilson, an American pastor based in Moscow, Idaho who supports Christian nationalism. Wilson recently said, “I believe the essential Christian political dogma is that government must be limited, and I would see the successful secession of Alberta as a wonderful limitation on an overreaching government.”
As an example of Lockean ideas in Christian politics, it is hard to think of a better one. As the Canadian conservative thinker George Grant already pointed out in Lament for a Nation, American conservatives are conservatives only in a particular sense: They do not go further back than classical liberalism. For this reason, the viewpoints of conservative American Christians generally align perfectly with the agenda of rich neoliberals, for whom the right to property is an absolute. Would Jesus have agreed? I don’t think so.
American conservatives of today are typically not just Lockeans, but also radical activists rather than faithful stewards of the good and true, as conservatives used to be. The movement includes “alternative” political parties, a brainwashed core of religious believers, fearmongering, and lawfare; it’s all there in the Globe’s report. It’s the same script that plays everywhere in Europe, and has for at least ten years. (Remember Brexit?).
I find history and political theory indispensable tools to get a grip on the reality of the present. This summer, Canadians and Americans celebrating their freedom together (ideally in Canada), do well to remember their founding history and consider what new things they could do together.
In grateful memory of Steve Kautz (1959-2018) and PLS 877
RE: ” Authoritarianism was defeated, civil rights were restored and religious zeal was channelled into a more tolerant political arrangement.” I wonder what the Irish would say about this.