...A Conservative Revolution Whether the American Revolution should be viewed as a conservative or radical movement is a hotly debated topic among historians, and each side provides a convincing case. Historians who view the movement as radical praise the colonists’ effort to send the British crown’s rule and effective implementation of a democratic government to the extent the world had never seen before. On the other hand, historians who view the American Revolution as a conservative movement note that Americans inherited the freest democratic society in the world, and see the movement as an inevitable breakaway from the British crown. Due to the subtlety of change within the government structure as a result of the preexisting democratic framework and the small percentage of the population that actually gained utility from these efforts, the American Revolution can be viewed as less of a radical revolution and more of a conservative movement by white male colonists to continue to exercise a form of democratic government they had had before King George started further implementing oppressive British policies. Louis Hartz highlights characteristics that not only make the American Revolution unique from other revolutions around the world, but also more conservative in comparison. Hartz claims that America was a unique case because the Revolutionary effort was not an “effort to build a new society on the ruins of an old society,”1 as all other revolutions of the time were, but rather...
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...effects of the upheavals and new ideologies that occurred after the French Revolution and during the Industrial Revolution. In 1815, the Congress of Vienna met and set up a system of checking other nations in order to prevent one nation from holding too much European power as France had under Napoleon. These checks on nations led to relative peace. Checks that were placed on France led to increased Belgian and Dutch territory as well as small Prussian territorial gains. In order to create a balance of power, the Congress of Vienna also increased Austrian and Russian territory. When Napoleon escaped from Elba, he returned to France to briefly rule again. His defeat at Waterloo led to the European Congress...
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...new ideas and perspectives in American people. Some considered this to be a development that would help to shape the nation; while others were concerned that traditional ideals and values would be lost with the changing times. The post – war time period in America was one of great controversy, with modernism on one side and conventionalism on the other. As America journeyed through the 1920’s, a power struggle between conservatives and liberals came to light due to the past events of World War I, the Progressive Era, and the Industrial Revolution. This tension was shown with a shift in viewpoints about immigration, foreign diplomacy, women’s role in the country, and the social aspects of American life. World War I had been a war unlike any other that America had been involved in thus far. It shed the archaic beliefs of isolationism and put the nation in a global spotlight as a major world super power. However, a portion of America still believed in seclusion, as shown when America chose not to join the League of Nations after much controversy in the Senate over the ratification of the post – war Treaty of Versailles in 1919. This was the first strike of tension in America due to the war effort. Additionally, the “Red Scare”, caused by Communism in Russia during the “Great War”, changed citizens’ ideas about immigrants. The once open - minded, diversified nation now began to adopt the theory of “Americanism.” Many wanted majority of Americans to solely be white, Anglo – Saxon...
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...Introduction As indicated in the discussion of the French Revolution, there is a logical and long-range pattern that revolutions follow. Therefore, understanding the pattern of past revolutions can help us anticipate events in current revolutions, more specifically the final stages of the process now taking place in Russia and China. One word of caution, however: these are likely trends, not absolute certainties. Outside events (e.g., a major war) and other historical forces unique to Russia and China respectively, could divert events in a very different direction from what is indicated here. Still, this pattern generally holds up and should serve as a guide in how we deal with nations still undergoing this process. That being said, following is a comparison of the French Revolution, which after 82 years finally reached a stable democratic form of government by 1871, and the Russian Revolution, which after 92 years is presumably in its final stage of evolution toward democracy. Forces leading to revolution Both countries shared three elements that helped lead to war: 1) Both regimes were burdened by heavy debts incurred from wars. In France’s case, this was the debt incurred by its support of the American Revolution. For Russia, this was the even higher cost in lives and money suffered during the first three years of World War I....
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...French Revolution The French Revolution last from 1789 to 1799. This war had many causes that began the revolution. Its causes ranged from the American Revolution, the economic crisis in France, social injustices to the immediate causes like the fall of Bastille, the Convening of he Estate-General, and the Great Fear. As a result of this revolution there many effects , immediate and long term. The immediate effects were the declaration of rights of man, abolishing of olds reign, execution of king and queen, the reign of terror, and war and forming of the citizen-army. The long term effects were the rise of Napoleon, spread of revolutionary ideas, growth of nationalism, and the conservative reaction. The contributing factors to the French Revolution was the economic crisis in France. The French government had undergone economic crises, resulting from the long wars waged during the reign of Louis XIV, the losses incurred in the French and Indian War, and increased indebtedness arising from loans to the American colonies during the American Revolution. The American Revolution showed that they got economical and political freedom from Britain. This liberalism sparked many revolutions in Europe ,but in France the ideas of the Enlightenment and liberalism were put to their fullest test. The French people wanted rights and would later get these. Another reason was that the old regime was ineffective and it abused its power. The immediate causes of the French Revolution were that the...
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...Under what circumstances could you become conservative yourself? Before I start talking about Edmund Burke and how I see the Conservatism and my point of view about it, I first have to say what actually Conservatism is. It is impossible to compare Conservatism with liberalism, socialism or communism and the reason for that is very simple. Conservatism is something completely different. The ideas of it and the way it “sees the word” has nothing to do with these of the other political philosophies. Even the origins of Conservatism are unique compared to these of the rest because unlike them Conservatism does not arise from philosophical foundation. We can describe it as a response, as a way to see the radical changes in the society and the total revolution like something that must never happen. Conservatism is a way of thinking. It shows us that it is impossible for us , the human beings, to be perfect if we achieve more or a complete freedom. According to that way of thinking people are full of weaknesses because they are a product of the Original Sin. Unlike socialists and liberals, conservatives believe that people are corruptible, selfish and weak and that’s why they must not believe in the infallibility of their thoughts. If they do that it would be impossible to have a normal life because people will hate each other and do everything possible to harm each other in one way or another. In order to prevent that conservatives believe that people must live in limitations...
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...The revolutionary movement at its core was about American colonist breaking away from the British Empire. Some actions of Britain pushed America over the edge, such as the taxing. The political corruption of England was not the only reason but it also influenced the revolution by causing the Americans to want to take control of their very own lives. The fact that they were forced to listen to a king who was 3,000 miles away was hard for them. The colonists wanted the power in the people, “We the people”, not the king. They realized that they would be better alone than being "mothered" aka controlled by England. The American Revolution was an actual radical overturning of government and society! We would have never established our own constitution, we wouldn’t have a presidential leader, governmental checks and balances or anything like the government that we have today, if the patriots did not fight for it. The revolution made America into the country we see today because our founding fathers made a foundation and spoke freedom into the world. Without the declaration of independence, America would not have established a unity between colonist. Without the radicalism, the colonist would have still been tied to England, allowing the king monarchy to reign over them, and they still would’ve been slaves to the crown....
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...Russell Kirk, an American political theorist, moralist, historian, social critic, literary critic, and fiction author was a major influence to modern conservatism. While he produced many quality pieces, he is best known for his most famous work, The Conservative Mind. According to modern conservatsists, Kirk’s novel was a heavily influential piece that ultimately shaped conservatism in the late twentieth and twenty-first centuries. He really pinpointed the exact morals behind conservatism, pulling proposals and theories from other great conservatist minds. Russell Kirk’s The Conservative Mind truly captured the journey of conservatism, proving that with a foundation of tradition and the main ideals, nothing can knock down a conservatist, and nothing will every change them. In the very first chapter, Kirk devotes a few pages to what he views as the pain ideas behind conservatism. Known as Kirk’s canons, he proposes six statements that he feels best represent conservatism. The first canon, “Belief in a transcendent order, or body of natural law, which rules society as well as conscience. Political problems, at bottom, are religious and moral problems. A narrow rationality, what Coleridge called the Understanding, cannot of itself satisfy human needs. ‘every Tory is a realist,’ says Keith Feiling: ‘he knows that there are great forces in heaven and earth that man’s philosophy cannot plumb or fathom.’ True politics is the art of apprehending and applying the Justice which ought to...
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...The text is a pamphlet from “Lesbianism and Feminism” written by the US radical feminist author Anne Koedt, a New-York city-based woman of Danish nationality, in 1971 when she was 30 years old. Anne Koedt was first an active figure in the Group NYRW: “New York Radical Women” which was an early second-wave feminism (1967-1969), along with Robin Morgan and then, in 1969, she co-founded of the Group NYRF: “New York Radical Feminists,” with Shulamith Firestone, another great figure of the dynamism of feminist ideas at that time. That group was to be one of first “consciousness-raising”; that notion would be the starting point for existing Liberalism to establish the foundations of Radicalism, and Anne Koedt would be a famous protagonist in it. At the same time, Ti-Grace Atkinson created the radical group: “The Feminists,” in 1969, after she left the liberal group “National Organization for Women (NOW),” passing from Liberalism to Reformism. A link remains, but the main contradiction is that Liberal Feminism tends towards an...
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...What is the current state of Latin American international relations, particularly relations with the United States? What is unique or “new” about the present situation? How much have we seen before? Make sure to discuss both economic and geo-political/security dimensions, and make reference to at least two historical periods, whether identified by particular doctrines, presidencies, or regimes of international relations. Current state of Latin Ameican international relations with the US— * Emerging independence from US—US is no longer the immediate partner of choice. Regional resentment of US perceived self-serving exercises of power * Economics: * Increased intra-regional economic integration—ALBA, UNOSUR * Expanding economic partners outside the hemisphere—China * Security: * States worry about subordination to the “gringos.” Address problems themselves or with immediate neighbors, rely less on US— * LatinAmerican presidents joined together to defuse tension between Colombia and Ecuador/Venezuela after Colombia’s March 2008 raid inside Ecuador * South American Defense Council (2008)—aimed at institutionalizing and coordinating “defense and security policies in the region while preventing and mediating conflicts within South America * United States: * Economic dependence on the region on the rise— * 50% of US energy imports (largest share accounted for by any region) * 32% of all US FDI ...
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...century. It not only changed the way Americans produced goods, it also changed how Americans ran their lives and what the focus of society became. Besides these outcomes of the industrialization period, along with an increase in technology and production, there were other important side effects. The most important side effect of the industrialization period and topic of my paper that was mentioned in all three textbooks, was it’s effect on the relationship between social classes. This topic is a very important section, imbedded throughout Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States, George Brown Tindall and David Emory Shi’s America: A Narrative History, and Paul Johnson’s A History of the American People. First we must take a look at the personal views of these authors before looking at how they each analyzed the topic. Zinn has a radical, Marxist interpretation of early US history in which he believes the entire history of the United States was based off of conflict. This includes racial conflict, gender conflict, and in our case, class conflict. Tindall and Shi have, as most history books do, a liberal interpretation of early US history in which they believe the history of the United States is based on consensus and agreement of core values among Americans. They believe the US has a good future because of the agreement on these values which include freedom, democracy, capitalism, and equal opportunities. Johnson has a conservative interpretation of early US history...
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...Ch. 19 The Iranian Revolution and the Revival of Islam The chapter started by describing how influential the Iranian Revolution turned out to be. Not only to of course the Iranians which saw the overthrow of the American installed Shah, and a radical change in laws which saw a change from secular to Islamic codes but also to Islamic states worldwide. There were many in the position of leadership that did not welcome the success of the revolution. Those nations that did have problem were primarily the conservative monarchs both religious and secular; these officials did not want the emergence of a militant Islamic Republic. Another nation that had problems with the change was the United States. After the Shah was deposed the United States...
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...Atlantic Revolutions, 1600-1825 The revolutions of the eighteenth century have their origins in political and cultural developments of the seventeenth century. Of course, they were also products of all of major developments the European conquest of the Americas, the rise of kingdom states and empires, the tremendous wealth that resulted from the expansion of global trade, and the development of colonial cultures and societies in the Americas. Scholars call these cultures and societies creole societies, because they blended elements of European, native American, and African culture and society. Developments in England, 1641-1688 But revolutions are also inspired by ideas, and ideas that we may take for granted today had much of their start in England. Political conflict in Great Britain was a common theme of the seventeenth century. In 1641, a civil war led to the execution of the king (Charles I), and the establishment of a republic, what was known as the Commonwealth. Politics and religion both played a part in the Civil War, with the English nobility and wealthy commoners (whose interests were represented in Parliament, England’s legislature) wanting a greater say in how royal revenues were raised and spent. This republic quickly became a military dictatorship, and the old king’s son (Charles II) was invited back. But when Charles II died, the next king soon ran into trouble with Parliament, who feared that this king, James II, wanted too much power for himself. So in...
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...what they had been treating him. Although in many of his quotes coming from his political reviews and the ideology that have attacked him of his radical ideas about democracy and the advocacy of revolution he brings about social change. In the book “Thomas Paine and the Promise of America,” Kaye elaborates that regardless of the efforts to curb his control of conservatives of virtually every generation since the 1790’s, to most of the America’s liberal movements Paine have been a spiritual father. After providing a brief summary of Paine’s career, Kaye targets on ways his character was shaped, beginning with men was inspired by Paine’s ideas about true democracy. Kaye symbols among several groups of early feminists and abolitionists, such as Ralph Waldo Emerson from Transcendental movement. Walt Whitman and Herman Melville are writers, and many others politicians along with Abraham Lincoln. Theodore Roosevelt a Republican who slandered Paine in the twentieth century. Woodrow Wilson a Democratic did many things without his acknowledgement; and Franklin Roosevelt who is also a Democratic admired Paine by indicating his work to assembly Americans during World War II. Kaye ironically reports that the...
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...South decided that secession was their only option. Hence, the Second American Revolution began. While the beginning of the war was mainly about maintaining the Union, the cause of the war evolved similarly to the way President Lincoln evolved during the time. A revolution...
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