Hannah Arendt and the Negro Question

4 “The End of Revolution Is the Foundation of Freedom”

4 “The end of revolution is the Foundation of Freedom” Hannah arendt’s On Revolution offers an in-depth study of the concept of revolution, including two of the most influential revolutions of the eighteenth century , the american revolution and the French revolution. But arendt’s evaluation of the american and French revolutions in this work is full of inconsistencies .1 on the one hand, she identifies similarities, for example noting that the early stages of the american and French revolutions suggest that they initially sought reforms in the direction of constitutional monarchies and that both were eventually driven to the establishment of republican governments (OR 134). she explores how the american and French revolutions were formed and influenced by almost identical traditions, but with different experiences and preparation (119). Both revolutions were concerned with freedom, in america with the notion of “public happiness” and in France with the notion of “public freedom” (ibid.). on the other hand, arendt describes the French revolution as a failed one that “ended in disaster” and seems disgruntled that it has had a greater place in our memory and in world history than the “triumphantly successful” american revolution— perhaps another incorrect assumption on her part (56). in examining the meaning of revolution arendt draws distinctions between revolution and rebellion, and between liberation and freedom. The key political themes of freedom and action continue to be emphasized by arendt as they relate to new beginnings and the foundation of constitutional government. i argue that as in The Human Condition and “reflections on Little rock” we see arendt’s theoretical framework of the political, the private, and the social operating problematically in On Revolution. The framework does not hold as she attempts to apply it to the institution of slavery in the american context. although slavery is understood to be a crime by arendt, it is almost simultaneously dismissed as a social question. accordingly, the founding fathers are celebrated for focusing on political rather than social issues, even while she notes that they understood that the institution of slavery from the beginning had undermined the political principle of freedom. i also challenge her claims about the relationship between race and slavery. The Meaning of revolution: Freedom and new Beginnings arendt traces the historical meaning of “revolution” back to the time of Copernicus , when it was used in the study of astronomy and referred to the revolving 59 60 | Hannah arendt and the negro Question motion of the stars and planets (OR 42). afer offering the historical meaning of the term “revolution,” arendt differentiates between rebellion (the end of which is liberation) and revolution (the end of which is freedom). arendt is making two distinctions here: between rebellion and revolution, and between liberation and freedom. The second set of terms is different because liberation is a condition of freedom, but not a promise of freedom (29). Furthermore, although the term “liberation ” may imply liberty, it is only a negative notion of liberty, consequently, “the intention of liberating is not identical with the desire of freedom” (ibid.). For arendt, revolution is not a struggle for liberation, but rather the foundation of freedom (142). Put another way, the “plot” to the story of revolution is freedom (29). arendt argues that revolutions in the modern age have as their aim freedom, foundation, and new beginnings—all key concepts within her theoretical framework of the political. referring to the term’s earlier scientific application going back to Copernicus, arendt explains, “nothing could be further removed from the original meaning of the word ‘revolution’ than the idea of which all revolutionary actors have been possessed and dispossessed, namely, that they are agents in a process which spells the definite end of an old order and brings about the birth of a new world” (OR 42).2 The word “revolution” was used as a political term in the seventeenth century to describe a “revolving back” or “a restoration of monarchical power in its former righteousness and glory” (42–43).3 revolution aims at the foundation of freedom, unlike rebellion, which aims at liberation from oppression. revolution and rebellion are not so much mutually exclusive as they are two stages of the foundation of something altogether new. For arendt, “There is nothing more futile than rebellion and liberation unless they are followed by the constitution of the newly won freedom” (OR 142). While the historian emphasizes “the first and violent stage of rebellion and liberation ,” the political scientist avoids this pitfall and takes note...