OCC CIV NOTES 11/2

reasons for the revolution
-no taxation without representation
-NOT about questioning sovereignty
-DID NOT question hierarchies of gender, wealth, etc
-new model army essentially forces the english hand with regards to democracy
-this forms the idea of natural rights

Ireton says
-property is a necessary thing
-the poor have rights, but not as many as the rich
-fuck you, poor
-all males need not have equal rights

Rainsborough says
-why does property exist?
-comes from unjust feudalism
-you NEED universal male suffrage

oops wikiracing

Revolution
-Army had been fighting the civil war for years
-army was filled with veterans of horrible early modern war
-army's pissed off at the king
-debate over regicide now
-john milton becomes the premier defender of regicide
-they also argue that his blood needs to be spilled to keep the land and people from suffering further
-they argue that if you do not punish in the name of God those who deserve it, God will punish you
-Milton writes the tenure of kings and magistrates
-tyrants are beasts and need to be taken out of power
-the people can legally and morally resist and dethrone a king

3 big challenges to the revolution

1) 1649-1650 sees the emergence of a group in england which calls themselves the 'true levelers'
-or the 'diggers'
-they take over the common land with the purpose of creating a communist haven
-they linked communism to christianity
-god required communism, in their view
-all should be equal, because all are equal in the eyes of god
-they argued against property, but didnt forcibly take any away
-believed that heaven and hell didnt exist, they were fictions made by the rich to subjugate the poor
-the real heaven should be love and brotherhood on earth
-they just get slaughtered, because they're pacifists

2) Quakers enjoy much more support
-didn't advocate for communism
-they believe that things could belong to people
-they argued that the holy spirit worked equally in all, men and women alike
-they didnt respect such social niceties as removing your hat when you meet a superior, or calling them 'sir' or 'ma'am'
-there are female preachers among quakers as well
-most quakers spent much time in prison

3) Republicanism
-most of the power went to oliver cromwell
-people started getting pissed
-there's a huge upswelling of republicanism after the regicide
-pissed at cromwell, who they see as a king or tyrant
-lots of texts published that happened to be circulated through the americas