Lesson Four | Consent of the Governed

[Music] our government is representative and that means we don't do it ourselves so if you're gonna understand the form of our government which form is unique you'll have to understand something that's in the decoration independence is a precursor and that thing is consent or consent of the government so then the argument would have to go like this that there's such a thing as a human that all the things that are like that are equal in some respect the dis equality sets them up to be governed rightly only by their consent and that gives rise to the structures of the Constitution so to connect all those things up is to retrace the steps of the American Revolution why consent what is consent and why it's kind of more or less a social contract that both parties are agreeing to the terms and conditions we as the people being governed are allowing those who are in power to look over and provide the necessary securities so we can as they put to pursue our happiness so in the declaration opinions what did they say about the social contract it's referenced in the laws of nature and nature's gone music where well the social contract assumes that there are laws of nature because you enter into the social contract you're leaving the state of nature it sounds a bit like John Locke who talks about that a whole bunch and so we have to we have to be careful not to get to chasing our own tails and so we might stick with just something direct and simple and understandable right like if we're equal you wouldn't have the authority to do something to me unless I say so whereas the king answered the Declaration of Independence did you know that he gave an address from the throne and he gave an answer cause this answer this address from thorough knee caused it to be distributed across the lines at the siege of Boston and he basically said in there I was born to be the king here and you were born to be the subjects and I am required to look after you and be good to you and take care of you and to do what's in your interest what's good for you but you are required to do what I say and he thought that that would turn the whole thing around and at the moment that he distributed this thing across the lines to the Continental Army it was melting away because their their enlistments were up and they read that thing and they went what is that what he thinks we're gonna where's that we're gonna do this thing right the King's idea is that I was born with an obligation and you were born with an obligation we both have to do our thing and we're born that way and the different said of Penance denies that it says we're all born equal equal in that sense that I named right we're not dogs until the dogs start talking so that's what they say and if it's like that then you get to be our king if we say so there's a really great document that we're not reading in this course but I encourage everyone to read it in our Constitution reader is written by Thomas Jefferson who of course was a very powerful writer earth-shaking Lee powerful writer wrote the deck for some independence and it's called a summary view of the rights of British North America and in there he goes on and on and on and he explains you get to be the king if we say so you have to do what we say in the last paragraph which I'll paraphrase he says that let those flattered who fear it is not an American art your counselors are partisans not drawn from us right so he's telling the King what for you know and it gives rise soon you know the flag with the snake that says don't tread on me we have a right we are born the same as you you get your carriage since you got it already it's just that that you don't get to tell us what to do from it consent is born in equality in that way right and and just you just have to remember that we Americans we just breathe that from birth we get that with Mother's Milk you know that's what we think we think we're born equal it's the reason why we think we can do whatever we want if we work hard enough it's the reason I thought you know I grabbed my dad's a school teacher from Pocahontas Arkansas right but I didn't know that that wasn't the grandest thing in the world to be I knew we weren't rich but I didn't think anybody was born better than I nor I better than anybody else Churchill life you should love to say about equality he'd say yeah it's the principle that everybody is as good as everybody else or a little better would you like that the church it was very witty so so now if you're gonna have consent that's a very radical thing to think the King of England didn't think that right the fact that he gave that address from the throne and had it distributed he thought that would be persuasive right later they'd send Ben Franklin who was let's call it let's say a very artful human being we all know what that means right for example he was the world's greatest spokesman for for pious middle-class morality anyway they sent him to England to negotiate he didn't get on whether they liked him better in Paris he went there too and he gets over there and he talks with the cabinet and the cabinet says we are the other country and you are the children and you must do what we say and he writes a letter back to the to the Continental Congress and says this is gonna be a war because what they think is and remember what they think is what everybody thinks it's what the King of France thinks who later subsidized our revolution it's what they all think it's what the world has thought from time immemorial and these guys don't think that that's a remarkable development in human history and what we're going to talk about now is the amazing things that that makes possible this idea of consent you see if they can only do it to you if you say so then incredible things become possible in arranging government you [Music]

Channel: Hillsdale College

Views: 27,891

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Keywords: hillsdale, college, larry p arnn, constitution, freedom, class, online course, online, free, liberty, equality, declaration, founders, history

Id: squSO3A24dg

Length: 7min 41sec (461 seconds)

Published: Sat Jun 01 2019