4/12/2023 0 Comments The anti federalist papersYou can also find something like libertarian sentiment even in the thought of someone you might suppose was unlikely as a proto-libertarian, namely Benjamin Franklin (after whom the would-be state was named). Things are not all that clear cut, in any case, since much Anti-Federalist “libertarian” sentiment was found on the frontier, where, for example, the State of Franklin movement sought as much autonomy as conceivable, only to plead for Federal military and other help when the Franklin settlers were under attack by Indians. Other Anti-Federalists could be almost anything, from quasi-Anarchists (hence one current Anti-Federalist group is avowedly secessionist and Anarchist, for which they cite as authority a number of Anti-Federalists), to advocates of aristocracy, to crackpots. Probably better to characterize most (or a plurality of) Anti-Federalists as “minarchists” more than pure libertarians, but even there they are better thought of as what may be called advocates of strong minarchism. These are the papers that seem to me to be most relevant to the issue of “proto-libertarianism” in 1787 -1788 at the birth of the federal republic. The Anti-Federalists were not libertarians in the modern sense but do represent the antecedents of the movement. The following selections from the Antifederalist Papers should be useful in reaching conclusions about “original intent” of the US Constitution. The Anti-Federalist Papers and Proto-Libertarianism (next) The Anti-Federalist Papers and Proto-LibertarianismĪ Radical Centrist Vision for the Future > Appendix > G.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |