Power Tends To Corrupt: Lord Acton's Study of Liberty

6—The High Point of Liberty: Colonial America and the Foundation of the Republic

SIX The high Point of Liberty Colonial America and the Foundation of the Republic Men ought to be in arms even against a remote and constructive danger to their freedom. Liberty depends on the division of power. Democracy tends to unity of power. . . . in the view of increasing democracy, a restricted federalism is the one positive check upon conception and centralism. [The american revolution was] the greatest revolution that had ever broken out among civilised men.1 t h e W e a k N e s s e s o F t h e political order that developed in england as the result of the Glorious revolution eventually led to such corruption of english politics, especially under George ii and George iii (1727–1810), that by 1770 the situation in Great Britain seemed almost as bad as in 1688. although theoretically omnipotent, Parliament was easily manipulated by royal authority because of a system of governmental patronage and bribery, as well as deviation from the principle of representation. Cumbersome electoral laws that allowed for uncontested elections, particularly in the rural shires, or elections by a few or even one elector (rotten boroughs) rendered Parliament into a body that in no way fully represented the will and interest of the nation. assessing the situation, acton emphatically states that “europe seemed incapable of becoming C h a P t e r 126 PoWer teNDs to CorrUPt the home of free states.” to grow without constraints, liberty had to look once again for a new refuge. exiled from the continent and encountering inhospitable conditions even in Great Britain, it found a new seat in america, where it could flourish and reign.2 “it was from america that the plain ideas that men ought to mind their own business, and that the nation is responsible to heaven for the acts of the state—ideas long locked in the breast of solitary thinkers and hidden among Latin folios—burst forth like a conqueror upon the world they were destined to transform, under the title of the rights of Man.”3 Why did america offer such great opportunities for liberty to develop and mature? What conditions in america did acton judge as fundamental for the growth of liberty? how could liberty mature in less than two centuries in america when, according to acton, it ordinarily requires millennia of civilizing growth? What was so special about america that made this rapid advance possible? The american Colonies after the restoration of the stuarts, the revolt against the old order in england gradually ceased to have a religious character, and it took instead an increasingly political form. The “immense revolutionary energy” residing in the doctrine of sectarian congregations did not vanish, however, but moved to america where it took root. While “in england the sectarian democracy was strong only to destroy,” in america it was able to build and to prevail.4 Why did sects encounter opportunities in america that were unavailable in europe? acton lists several reasons: liberal colonial charters; the search for religious freedom, which motivated many early colonists; the impact of selfgovernment within religious congregations on civil government; and finally, the challenges of colonial life, which produced unique social, political, and economic arrangements. Let us briefly review these factors. The beginning of english colonization in america took place during the reign of the stuarts, more exactly under James i. earlier attempts, undertaken in the late sixteenth century, had been unsuccessful and left no lasting influence. although the stuarts pursued arbitrary government at home, they did not venture to establish a centralized empire in the New World, comparable to those of spain and France. on the contrary, they founded several separate and mutually independent colonies in america. Furthermore, the stuarts were eager to rid themselves of various religious troublemakers, both Protestant and Catholic. to encourage the dissenters to leave england, The High Point of Liberty 127 the crown was willing to grant liberal charters to newly founded colonies. although the charters differed significantly from each other, they included a large amount of autonomy, and all colonies enjoyed relative freedom from royal interference in their internal affairs.5 Thus the colonial governments that eventually emerged in america depended little on London and were principally shaped by their local situations and by the colonists themselves. among the first colonists coming to america, acton pays particular attention to the Puritans in New england. For these colonists, the principal...