The Theory of Natural Law - Term Paper Example

Introduction The Alamo The Alamo, which was given to a historic town in San Antonio, originated from the Spanish terminology-“El Alamo.” It was named partly in honor of their hometown in Mexico, Alamo des Parras and also because of a groove cottonwood trees. Alamo witnessed a lot of military action in the early 1920s. The movement and consequent settlement of U.S and Spanish families would in the next decades culminate in the Alamo rebellion. The battle of Alamo incurred approximately between 600 and 1600 casualties (Kellogg, 145). Iroquois Nation Iroquois nation are also known as the people of the six nations. It is a confederacy or league of six native Indian tribes. The latter term emanated from the Englishmen while the former from French. The tribes were Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Mohawk, and Senega. They were joined by Tuscora later in 1722. Some modern Historical scholars have attempted to paint a clear distinction between the League and the Confederacy. According to Kellogg’s, Barrons E-Z American History (75), the ceremonial and cultural institution personified in the majestic Council is the Iroquois League, while the Confederacy was the decentralized political and diplomatic entity that emerged to counter the European colonization. Today the League still exists, unlike the Confederacy, which dissolved after the fall of the British and allied other Nations in the American Revolutionary War. Noble Savage Noble Savage refers to an idealized concept of uncivilized man. This man signifies the inward goodness of one who is not exposed to the corrupting influences of civilization. Thinkers and writers traced the concept of the noble savage to Ancient Greece. Philosophers of Homer, Pliny, and Xenophon ilk idealized primitive groups such as the Arcadians, both real and imagined as a noble savage. Frederick Douglass Frederick Douglass was an African-American social reformer, abolitionist writer, and orator. Born a slave in 1818, he escaped from slavery at the age of 20. Douglass was a master of irony; this was illustrated by his famous speech delivered on Fourth of July 1852 where he proclaimed that this Fourth of July was yours, not mine. You may rejoice, I must mourn. He then pointed the figure at the audience of ridicule for inviting him to address. In addition, he referred to Psalm 137, whereby the rivers of Babylon the Israelites were compelled to sit down and sing the Lord’s song in a strange land (Martin et al., 357). Manifest Destiny Manifest Destiny is a terminology that denotes the widespread attitude present during the period of American expansion. According to this feeling, in the 19th century, the United States not only could, but was preordained to extend from coast to coast. This attitude invigorated western settlement, the ejection of Native American population and escalation of the Mexican war. Cherokee Nation Kellogg’s ‘Barrons E-Z American History’ refers the Cherokee nation to one of the Iroquois peoples earlier on inhabitants of the Appalachian Mountains, in today’s Oklahoma. They are among the Native American people. Nat Turner Nat Turner was an African-American slave. He is remembered to have led a slave and free blacks rebellion in Southampton County, Virginia in 1831(A revolution to remember: the legacy of Nat Turner. Though the bloodiest, the revolution and is said to have expedited the coming of the Civil War besides being the most successful in the black history of the United States. Turner, a fully committed Christian, believed he received messages from God through revelations and signs in nature. It is believed that his insurrection might have been inspired by a solar eclipse coupled with an unusual atmospheric event. These events commenced on August 21, 1831 (Tragle, 123). Fugitive Slave Law Also known as the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 was among the most contentious laws of the time. The federal laws comprised of The Fugitive Slave Acts that let the incarceration and return of runaway slaves to the United States. The pair of laws was passed by Congress in 1793 (Martin et al., 173). The first Fugitive Slave Act was majorly characterized by laws that authorized local governments to capture the slaves that escaped and made them return masters. In addition, the Act allowed for the imposition of penalties who participated in the fights either directly or indirectly. This resulted in widespread resistance to the law. Due to the resistance, the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 was enacted. This added further prerequisites to runaway slaves and charged harsher punishments for interfering in their capture. Later, both laws were formally repealed by an act of Congress in 1864. The enactment of the Fugitive Slave Acts resulted in many free blacks being illegally captured and sold into slavery. Puritan Work Ethic The Protestant work ethic is synonymous to the Puritan work ethic. It is a concept that emphasizes hard work, diligence, and frugality as an invariable exhibit of a persons deliverance in the Christian faith. It is also a sociological theory that emphasizes the belief in and dedication to duty, hard work, thrift strength of mind, and conscientiousness (Martin et al., 458). 1. Turner’s thesis Since its publication, Turner’s Frontier hypothesis turned out to be one of the most pervasive and influential ideas in American history. The thesis proposed three main points. First, the frontier line was “the most quick line of Americanization;” second it was influential in shaping the ‘American moral fiber’ and traditions, and lastly the frontier experience influenced America’s democratic foundations more than any other cogency. This essay will presuppose that Turner’s idea is true. That is; that American culture and worldview have suffered as a result of the frontier. In addition, the essay will try to understand the concepts of the frontier that had become such influential force in USA history and why was that so. The essay will rely on the historical evidence outside that which Turner gathered. The most distinctive feature of the frontier was its rampant acquisitiveness and eccentricity. The existence of open resources and inadequate of a good socio-political structure resulted in an environment characterized by opportunities. This allowed settlers to work hard and pursue the act of gaining wealth and improved living standard. According to Turner (117), the availability of limitless land, its continuous decline, and the progress of American settlement westward, explain American growth. The American Revolution played a vital role in improving the socio-economic status of the slaves. It led to a free state where every person was able to work to attain self-reliance. The political power of the slaves was also improved as they had the opportunity to vote and those their preferred candidates. The slaves also had the opportunity to have a say in the judicial system through the ratification of the Constitution and the Civil War. The Nathaniel Bacons rebellions results were varied. Their significance was as follows; first the unpopular Governor Berkeley was tentatively removed. Secondly, substantial progress was advanced toward frustrating the Indian threat in a manner that the tribes realized they were in no better position to counter the settlers superiority and opted to sign a peace treaty in 1677. Other areas that witnessed reforms were the pervasive sense of subordination to an aristocratic minority, restrictions on the right to vote, the institution of a new land ownership requirement, higher taxes, low tobacco prices and lack of protection from Native American attacks. The first ever women right group in the USA was the Seneca Falls Convention. The characteristic Seneca Falls Convention was planned by a small number of women that actively participated in the abolition and temperance movements that occurred between 19th and 20th July in the year 1848. The convention occurred at Seneca Falls in New York. This convention opened for many women right groups that advocated for women right and empowerment. The moment advocated for fair treatment of women and respect for women. Women should be given equal opportunities just like men (Vile, 83). In conclusion, Turner’s rebellion was a demonstration of the underlying displeasure of slaves in the south. Secondly, this rebellion among other several factors eventually facilitated Virginia’s quest for secession. Lastly besides causing greater fear and stricter enforcement of the slave codes by southern whites, it integrates various principle and values that characterize the American’s perspectives in regards to slavery. 2. Pro- and Antislavery Arguments and Conflicts During the American Revolution, the States Northern America (Northern states) had either put slavery to an end or made provisions for its gradual obliteration. In the southern states, however, slavery was deeply cemented and remained integral to American politics and way of life (Finkelman, 347). Slavery was protected by the several federal laws, Supreme Court decisions and the United States’ Constitution. To make matters worse, slave-owners dominated all three branches of the federal government the legislature, executive, and judiciary. Between the years of the Revolution and the Civil War, Southern intellects offered a variety of arguments supporting and justifying slavery. According to Finkelman (123), these thoughts’ basis where religion, politics and law, economics, history, philosophy, expediency, and science. The thoughts offer priceless approach into how slavery shaped American history and continued to affect American society. The question of slavery was notably placed in the forefront of American politics in 1844 by the Liberty Party .the Wilmot Proviso was passed by the House in 1846, but it was rejected by the Senate. It was to be proposed in 1847and again rejected by the Senate. In 1848, Daniel Webster, U.S. Senator from Massachusetts, issued a statement before the Senate. Webster highlighted that slavery laws as much as they acted as a binding force in the states that they were enacted-, are just local laws that could not go beyond the territories in terms of legality. The U.S liberty party lost its anti-slavery crusade. The outcome of the 1840 and 1844 elections was enough prove to that. This however did not dampen their anti-slavery sentiments. In 1848 the liberty party joined ranks with conscience wigs and anti-slavery democrats to form the Free Soil Party. This was a formidable force from the fact that their goals were precisely defined. As Finkelman writes in “Defending Slavery” (207), the newly formed party strongly advocated for complete obliteration of slavery in the newly conquered states as opposed the whole of America. As anti-slavery sentiments heightened, pro-slavery arguments rose with equal measure, especially from the South. In the congress, Senator Stephen Douglas had a geographical premise on the matter. The issue of slavery should be decided by the people from the region according to the senator. He was fully supported by john Calhoun, a vocal senator from South Carolina (Finkelman, 349). Besides the debates in the congress the slavery debate took both economic and religious connotations. The question of whether slavery was beneficial to the economy or not grew emerged from the abolitionists. Slave labor encouraged immigrants and this would lead to economic growth according to anti-slavery crusaders. The pro-slavery crusaders insisted that slavery was the heartbeat of the American economy because it was cheaper (Martin et al., 367).A notable supporter of economic debate on slavery was a farmer from Virginia-Edmund Ruffin. He published his works in a document titled “Slavery and Free Labor Described and Compared.”On the religious point, the protestant revival acted as a catalyst to many ant-slavery sentimentalists after the great awakening. Besides slaves themselves, women too took a centre stage in the debates. The women movement worked together with the abolitionist sharing the tenets of equality, equity and human rights. Among the vocal women at the time was Elizabeth Cady Stanton. She issued the famous "Declaration of Sentiments" at the Seneca Falls Womens Rights Conference in 1848. Others were Lucretia Mott, an equivocal abolitionist who helped forge a connection between the womens movement and the anti-slavery movement (Finkelman, 351). 3. The theory of Natural Law By “natural law” is meant a law that determines what is right and wrong and that has an appropriate power or by an absolute validity, fundamentally, hence everywhere and always. The Theory of Natural law is an obstreperous critical account of the constitutive features of the well-being and fulfillment of person. The schemes that pick out deep-seated aspects of human thriving are prescriptive in our thinking about what to do and restrain from doing. They provide more than merely instrumental reasons for action and self-restraint. It should be noted that the political understandings as a result of the Constitution created the historical experience and the circumstances that importantly led to the development of the newly independent states in America. In the light of John Locke, It is also true that the Framers of the U.S constitution brought to their deliberations a coherent philosophy about the ends and means of government. The philosophy of John Locke guided their forethoughts and informed the selections they made in challenging solutions. Incorporated in the thinking were three main political components of constitutionalism, natural rights, and republicanism. These ideas were already integrals of the intellectual prevalence of eighteenth-century America. It is worth highlighting that, the discussion of these issues was not limited to the small intellectual elite if we are to comprehend the occasions surrounding the adoption and approval of the Constitution. The fact that knowledge of the above philosophies was widespread does not of suggest that most Americans were good readers and knowledgeable on historical and philosophical matters. Many Americans had become familiar with their ideas by reading the pamphlets that were published during the Revolution and also during the debates over the adoption and ratification of the Constitution. The doctrines of these and other philosophers, moreover, had also been preached from many pulpits and contained in the newspapers that existed in the colonies in 1775. The meaning of the above argument is that the constitution was founded on the consent of the people. That is; apart from believing that the political authority must have the consent of the citizens, it had to be designed in a manner such that it is always free and hence not characterized by arbitrary actions. Locke argues that slavery consists in being subjected to arbitrary authority. On the other hand, he argues that political society is characterized by the lawfully developed and implemented authority that has been agreed upon. Second, all of the key principles of the philosophy of government advocated by John Locke are contained in The Declaration of Independence. As Locke argues, "all men are created equal." He meant that in spite of the differences, no one has an innate right on whatever basis to exercise authority over others. He further had the notion that all humans have certain undeniable rights and that it is the function of government to protect. Thirdly, it can be deduced from the natural law that humans establish governments in order to attain security for our rights, and these governments derive their authority to rule from our consent. According to Locke, if these authorities we establish fail in their mandate that they were established, people may withdraw their consent and institute another. Lastly, the Ninth Amendment was included in the Bill of Rights. This was aimed at preventing the government from exenterating rights discoverable through reason, and that exist both in the natural law and common law. The Ninth Amendment in the Constitution was slotted in to spell out the lifelong subsistence and constitutional standing of unwritten natural and undeniable rights whether or not they have initiated their way to constitutional text or have even been recognized before in any way as basic to American people. Conclusion It was the influence of these historical occurrences and thoughts that shaped the American public. Physical confrontations such as the Turner rebellion, Mexican War, the American Revolution were instrumental on one hand. Ideas such as Natural Law, Manifest Nation, Protestant Puritan work ethic and Turner’s Thesis shaped opinion on the other hand. The 18th century is defined as the year why there was a breakthrough in the American political system. In this century, the political ideologies were developed, and many Americans became interested in politics (Vile, 12). It is true, of course, the experience changed and shaped many Americans’ thoughts about politics. However, some individual were influenced by their particular interests. Work cited Finkelman, Paul. Defending Slavery: Proslavery Thought in the Old South ; a Brief History with Documents. Boston, Mass. [u.a.: Bedford/St. Martins, 2003. Print. Tragle, Henry Irving. The Southampton Slave Revolt of1831: A Compilation of Source Material. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 1971. Frederick Jackson Turner, “The Significance of the Frontier in American History,” (1893) p. 1 Nevada Law Journal. Las Vegas, Nev: William S. Boyd School of Law, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, 2001. Print. Vile, John R. Encyclopedia of Constitutional Amendments, Proposed Amendments, and Amending Issues: 1789 - 2002. Santa Barbara, Calif. [u.a.: ABC-CLIO, 2003. Print. McAffee, Thomas B, Jay S. Bybee, and A C. Bryant. Powers Reserved for the People and the States: A History of the Ninth and Tenth Amendments: a Reference Guide to the United States Constitution. Westport, Conn: Praeger Publishers, 2006. Print. Schmitt, Carl, and Jeffrey Seitzer. Constitutional Theory. Durham: Duke University Press, 2008. Print. Martin, Michael R, Leonard Gelber, and Leo Lieberman. Dictionary of American History: With the Complete Text of the Constitution of the United States. Totowa, N.J: Rowman & Littlefield, 1984. Print. Kellogg, William O. Barrons E-Z American History. Hauppauge, NY: Barrons Educational Series, 2010. Print. Read More