Unit 3: Absolutism
LESSON 5: REVOLUTION DOCUMENTS
What I need to know

How Europeans justified dominating people around the
world using an argument of cultural superiority.

The importance of European monarchs and religion
when it came to enforcing new social hierarchies on
indigenous people.
Objectives

Philosophical writings demonstrate a variety of opinions in their
message about the most effective structure for government and
society.

Absolutism was challenged by new political thought in Europe
during the Enlightenment.

Enlightenment thought presented a variety of perspectives on the
source of government power shifting from the absolute authority
from god to the power of the common man.
Guiding questions

How did the French aristocracy view and react to Enlightenment
ideals that questioned the "Divine Right of God?“

Why is it so difficult to determine and maintain the most effective
systems of government?

How did the overthrow of Absolute Monarchs led to so many wars?

How was the overthrow of Monarchs influenced by Enlightenment
thinkers?
Magna Carta

Magna Carta- make peace between the unpopular King and a group of rebel barons, it promised
the protection of church rights, protection for the barons from illegal imprisonment, access to swift
justice, and limitations on feudal payments to the Crown, to be implemented through a council of 25
barons. Neither side stood behind their commitments, and the charter was annulled by Pope
Innocent III, leading to the First Barons' War. The king was over taxing the barons in order to fund his
own wars.

The charter became part of English political life and was typically renewed by each monarch in turn,
although as time went by and the fledgling English Parliament passed new laws, it lost some of its
practical significance. Making the charter an essential foundation for the contemporary powers of
Parliament and legal principles such as habeas corpus.

Magna Carta extensively in the early 17th century, arguing against the divine right of
kings propounded by the Stuart monarchs. Both James I and his son Charles I attempted to suppress
the discussion of Magna Carta, until the issue was curtailed by the English Civil War of the 1640s and
the execution of Charles.
Magna Carta: Background

Although it is important to remember that King John was a French King ruling an English people, the conflict
that resulted in the king’s forced seal of the Magna Carta was not a struggle between the Saxon peasants
and their foreign Norman rulers; it was between the king and his barons. The Magna Carta was created to
protect the rights of the “free man” and limit the king’s ability to abuse his power. King John’s seal of the
Magna Carta was his acknowledgment that the barons had “ancient liberties” and that his power was limited
by established English law. Its protections applied only to the Norman elite.

Over time, as the definition of a free man has expanded, its principles have been used to protect all citizens.

Most of the Magna Carta or “Great Charter” was a long list of grievances and not actual written law. Only 3
of the original 63 “chapters” or clauses are valid today: the freedom and rights of the church, the rights to
elect city officials in London and other towns, and, most famously, the protection of individuals against
arbitrary punishment to be tried by his or her peers. Its significance also lies with the king’s seal and
acknowledgment that of his limited power, not just the clauses.

The Magna Carta has served as the basis of written constitutions and the inspiration for declarations of human
rights. As Franklin Roosevelt said in his 3rd inaugural, "The democratic aspiration is no mere recent phase in
human history . . . It was written in Magna Carta."
Rights of man

Statement of democratic principles: rights of equal peoples, freedom of speech, popular sovereignty,
and representative gov’t. Foundation of the constitution

It was passed by France's National Constituent Assembly in August 1789, is a fundamental document
of the French Revolution and in the history of human and civil rights. The Declaration was directly
influenced by Thomas Jefferson, working with General Lafayette, who introduced it. Influenced also
by the doctrine of "natural right", the rights of man are held to be universal: valid at all times and in
every place, pertaining to human nature itself. It became the basis for a nation of free individuals
protected equally by law. It is included in the preamble of the constitutions of both the Fourth French
Republic (1946) and Fifth Republic (1958) and is still current.

Inspired in part by the American Revolution, and also by the Enlightenment philosophers, the
Declaration was a core statement of the values of the French revolution and had a major impact on
the development of liberty and democracy in Europe and worldwide (Wikipedia)
Concepts behind it

The concepts in the Declaration come from the philosophical and political duties of
the Enlightenment, such as individualism, the general will, the social contract as theorized by the
French philosopher Rousseau, and the separation of powers espoused by the Baron de Montesquieu

Ideals came from American declaration since both were working closely together at the time

Defined a single set of individual and collective rights for all men. Influenced by the doctrine of natural
rights, these rights are held to be universal and valid in all times and places. For example, "Men are
born and remain free and equal in rights. Social distinctions may be founded only upon the general
good." They have certain natural rights to property, to liberty, and to life. According to this theory, the
role of government is to recognize and secure these rights. Government should be carried on by
elected representatives.
Activity: Magna Carta Analysis:
1.
How does Clause 12 establish the precedent that a council (later
Parliament or a representative) to approve of a new tax?
2.
Clause 13 protects the rights of citizens to elect their own city officials such
as a mayor. Why would that be important?
3.
Clause 39, which protects the right of free men to a fair trial and against
arbitrary punishment has often been considered the most important. Why?
4.
What evidence does the Magna Carta give to the abuses of King John?
5.
Many of the complaints in the charter outline the misuse of power by the
king. Why were such abuses common in feudal England by the king? How
might the lords abuse their power over their serfs?
Review: Guiding Questions

How did the French aristocracy view and react to Enlightenment ideals
that questioned the "Divine Right of God?“

Why is it so difficult to determine and maintain the most effective systems
of government?

How did the overthrow of Absolute Monarchs led to so many wars?

How was the overthrow of Monarchs influenced by Enlightenment
thinkers?