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The English Civil War in the 21st century?

Prof Farah
A friend on twitter happened to comment just now that s/he used to read US and UK civil war novels and got very confused.

I pointed out that the Southern Gentlemen tended to be descended from the Royalist Party, while the Unionist Chaplains often descended from the Parliamentary party.

And then I realised I had said something a lot more insightful than I immediately realised: because those two basic divisions still exist:

The Republicans, for all they argue for "limited government" actually mean "limited parliamentary interference in the divine rights of hereditary castes--something that was stark during the Civil Rights era.

The Democrats continue to see government as something done for the people, not to the people, perhaps one of the most important aspects of English Civil War politics, and regard the government as a tool to protect people from the depradations of Divine Right thinking.

Comments

( 8 comments — Leave a comment )
eve_prime
Dec. 22nd, 2012 04:29 pm (UTC)
Interesting. I think you’re onto something there. It could also explain the bizarre (to us) alliance between the secular wealthy and the evangelical conservatives: the group that most benefits from Divine Right arguments, and the group most susceptible to them.
nwhyte
Dec. 22nd, 2012 05:49 pm (UTC)
The best summary of the Royalist attitude to popular government that I have seen is this:
Liberty and Freedom, consists in having of Government; those Laws, by which their Life and their Gods may be most their own. It is not for having share in government - that is nothing pertaining to them.
From Charles I's speech on the scaffoled before his execution.
loosestrife
Dec. 22nd, 2012 11:31 pm (UTC)
I do think you can make a case that Royalist and Parliamentary attitudes live on in parts of the US South and in the US Northeast (David Hackett Fischer makes that case in Albion's Seed), and perhaps also that traces of those attitudes are reflected in the current platforms of the Republican and Democratic parties. But it's worth noting that the two parties haven't lined up that way consistently; they've both changed course since the antebellum period, and probably have a few more shifts in store before they're through;.
fjm
Dec. 23rd, 2012 08:26 am (UTC)
The connection is probably regional, rather than to the party name.
hairyears
Dec. 23rd, 2012 01:01 pm (UTC)
An in observation. I would draw a parallel with Libertarians, whose public utterances can be summarised thus:

'When we argue for "small government", we actually mean "limited interference in the exercise of power by the robber-baron billionaire who paid for my air-time"... '

The difference between that, and the Republican aristocracy, is that Libertarians oppose all government interference in the actions of the new barony, whether that government be democratic, divine, aristocratic or Monarchic. Aristocrats are all for government that is of and for their own caste, and very much in favour of extensive interference in the exercise of power - or any hint of self-determination - in all other castes.

As an aside: it surprised me to be shown that I have mostly viewed the Civil War in religious terms, rather than reading a rigorous political analysis. I should rectify this.

hairyears
Dec. 25th, 2012 01:38 pm (UTC)
Ta. Duly ordered.

apostle_of_eris
Dec. 24th, 2012 06:38 pm (UTC)
oh, yes
In the North, autonomy is to be maximized; in the South, autonomy is zero-sum, to be hoarded.
( 8 comments — Leave a comment )

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