Unit 1.

The construction of
political freedom:
citizenship

Blanca Entrena Geografía e Historia 3ºESO

 Introduction
Political power is currently exercised in the West by all citizens in terms of
equality before the law, however, this has not always been the case. National
sovereignty and the social contract on which democratic societies are based today are
the product of a long historical process that reached its
turning point in the liberal revolutions of the 18th century.
Ideas that are now taken for granted such as political
freedom, participation or representation are actually
relatively new. From the end of Prehistory, where the first
signs of social hierarchy are found, to the appearance of
political liberalism, thousands of years of history unfold in
which the world is divided between the dominated and the
dominant, the latter being the least.
1.1. A past enslavement: Ancient History and slavery.
Once prehistory finished new social issues came into scene including slavery.
At the end of the Metal Ages period, during the Iron age, social hierarchy was
definitely established. Those who accumulated wealth were strongly related to the
organization and control of the population, so it was not a surprise that they decided
to subdue people who lived in the territories they controlled. The big civilisations and
empires counted on slaves to work out so they were main pillars for its economy. In
Egypt they allowed the construction of the pyramids, in America they were the
agricultural workforce over the peasants and in Rome their activity included
activities so different as working on a patrician house or fighting in the anfiteatro as
gladiator depending on their owners.
Even if slaves existed there were just a few ways to become one of them. For
example in Rome you had to be conquered or paid for your debts to be one. However,
slave conditions did not finish with your death but was inheritated by your children
unless your debt was totally paid or your owner decided release you.
Obviously, slaves were not the only social group during Antiquity, although
they were the basis of economic activity. The bulk of the population that remained
outside political power despite escaping from the clutches of slavery was very large,
although it varied depending on the society to which we refer.
In Mesopotamia and Egypt, among the first great civilizations with a defined
state organization, control of society was in the hands of the great regents, kings and
later emperors, although with some nuances between them. In Mesopotamia, even if
rulers (just men) were dressed as divinities, they were not seen as authentic gods,
something that did happen with the Egyptian pharaohs. This made possible for the
great priests to have an even more important political position than the kings, being
the true and last leaders of the territory. However, in Egypt, the pharaoh (man or
woman) had absolute power, although the priests, like the nobility and high-ranking
members of the army,
enjoyed a privileged
social position.
In Greece, ancient
Hellas, the state
organization passed
through the territorial
division into numerous
city-states, the poleis,
which shared the same language, culture and religion but were defined by a
particular government, currency and army. In this way, power would be in the hands
of one or the other according to the current government model. It should be noted
that the most common were the oligarchy and the monarchy, although democracy
has passed into history thanks
to the preponderance of Athens
during the 5th century BC. In
this regard, we must not forget
that it was not an inclusive and
egalitarian democracy, but
exclusive to a few people: over
20 years of age, sons (not
daughters) of Athenian fathers
and mothers with a certain
economic capacity.
Participation was, moreover,
not a right but a duty.
The oligarchy, the government of a few, was characteristic of another great
polis, Sparta, which would take hegemony over Athens in the Greek after the
Peloponnesian war at the end of the 5th century BC. Beyond this, it was characterized
as the most egalitarian of all the Greek city-states, with women having practically the
same rights, education and training as men.
Finally, the monarchy was a form of government present throughout Classical
Antiquity, perhaps the most notable case was Macedonia with Philip II, father of
Alexander the Great, already in the 4th century BC.
In a parallel way, in Rome, the political power would begin being in the hands
of the monarchy (from the middle of the 8th century BC to the beginning of the 6th
century BC) to later pass to the Senate during the Republic (until the 1st century BC)
definitely ending in the figure of the emperor (until 476 AD in the West and 1453 AD
in the East).
During the republican era, only a few were able to gain access to power, again
Roman men and citizens with a certain economic capacity; while in the imperial era
the emperor would have absolute power and would become an authentic God,
making the imperial cult obligatory even when Christianity became the official state
religion, in the year 380 under the government of Theodosius.
1.2. A past enslavement: feudalism and Third Estate.
The disappearance of the Western Roman Empire brought with it a strong
ruralization and a great social and political change that resulted in a new system,
feudalism. Talking about feudalism is equivalent to talking about the Middle Ages, a
period that would extend for almost a millennium. It changed society putting aside
slavery to settle in social immobility and peasant attachment to the land.
It is not surprising that as a result of the barbarian invasions and the
generalization of insecurity and violence, the cities were progressively abandoned
and the peasants sought protection in the future feudal lords. In exchange for a part
of the harvest, they had a guaranteed house and land, which became practically the
only option for survival for a large majority. The absence of a strong and unitary
political power made possible the development of feudalism and turned the Christian
Church into the only great common institution for the entire European territory, thus
giving rise to Christendom.
The feudal system divided medieval society into two groups: the privileged
and the unprivileged. The first, exempt from paying taxes, had at its peak the
monarch who, far from having absolute power, depended on the feudal lords to face
any war conflict, since he lacked his own army. This did not prevent the king from
disposing of his lands and punishing the lords in case of disobedience, but it opened
the door to wars and rebellions when the nobles allied with each other to improve
their position. In this group also the clergy is found, men and women of the Church,
whose power could vary as much as their function and location. It was not the same
social relevance that a monk could reach than a bishop, or that the same Pope, whose
figure would acquire importance from the High Middle Ages.
Being such a long period of time, medieval society was changing and social
groups were gradually defined. The monarchs will increase their power over the
nobility in a continuous pulse, while the ecclesiastical hierarchy is built and
entrenched in Europe.
On the other hand, within the group of the underprivileged, those who did
have to pay taxes and who were forced to work, the changes experienced will have
another type of nuance. The peasantry will constitute the bulk of the population and
affiliation to the land will impede their mobility. Something different will be the case
of the artisans who, already during the High Middle Ages, will begin to group
themselves in guilds and little by little accumulate some capital until giving rise to
the appearance of a new social group: the bourgeoisie. The periods of stability and
social peace together with the spread of new agricultural techniques such as the
triennial rotation gave rise to a demographic explosion that translated into
progressive urban growth. Thus, the new cities or towns would have a new social
group that, although without political power, would have economic capacity.
This time of prosperity would not last long, because in the fourteenth century
a series of catastrophic misfortunes came
together to reduce the European population
by half. The black death, major armed
conflicts such as the Hundred Years' War,
the loss of agricultural productivity due to
poor harvests along with the diatribes of the
time put the brakes on a time of splendor.
However, all the consequences were not
negative: the stagnation of agricultural
production had begun to affect the population, so that the death of millions of people
allowed hunger to be eliminated from the equation. In addition, the population
movements produced by the wars brought with them the spread of new ideas, which
led to the development of an artistic current that recovered the roots of Antiquity, the
Renaissance.
For many historians, the fifteenth century marks the transition to modernity.
The feudal society would end up being modeled to give rise to the Ancient Régime
where royal power was established to become absolute. Royal authority reaffirmed
itself in divine power and extended its networks to all levels of society. The transition
was made through the authoritarian monarchy, exemplified by the Catholic
Monarchs, who increased their power against the nobles by creating their own army
and increasing taxes to finance a kind of civil service that helped them manage the
state without delegating their power.
On the other hand, already in the eighteenth century, the bourgeoisie began to
develop its own social identity, to which it would allude with the term third estate.
However, this would not eliminate their situation in the group of the
underprivileged, still placing themselves in servitude and establishing themselves on
the margins of political power. The absence of political power is not synonymous
with the absence of economic power and the bourgeoisie progressively became large
accumulators of capital, which is not surprising considering that they were the ones
who monopolized business and trade. The ever-increasing desire to also gain access
to unique political power and the dissemination of the ideas of the Enlightenment
will bring with it the great historical change of which we are heirs today: the liberal
revolutions and the appearance of citizenship.
However, one must not generalize. In the 17th century there were two
exceptions to the new absolute systems that made possible some citizen
representation and some limits to royal power. In the first place, the Spanish
Netherlands, which had already split from the empire in 1581 to become a federal
republic made up of seven provinces with their respective representatives; secondly,
England, where the success of the Revolution led by Oliver Cromwell in 1689 put the
limits on the king by giving Parliament (House of Lords and House of Commons)
legislative power.
1.3. The emergence of theoretical liberalism.
To understand the development of political liberalism on a practical level, we
must first go back to its theoretical appearance. We place ourselves back in the 18th
century, specifically in mid-century Europe, to observe how a new current of thought
shone with its own light: the Enlightenment.
 New ideas such as truth, progress or reason became the vehicular axes of an
entire continent, to the point of ending up crossing the Atlantic to ride on American
lands. Although humanism had placed man at the center of the world, the
Enlightenment indicated the need for
that man to be endowed with reason.
From the hand of authors such as John
Locke or René Descartes, the theoretical
bases of the world we know were drawn.
The first, English, would speak of the
need for empirical experience, not only
had to affirm but verify before accepting
a new reality (empiricism), so it became
true. On the other hand, the French
Descartes pointed out methodical doubt as the only way to contrast those ideas that
were not experimental. They were thus united on the one hand, the possibility of
reaching scientific truth, which would then irrefutably lead to progress. It is not
surprising that with this turn in the European mentality the 18th century came to be
known as the Age of Enlightenment.
It is important to keep in mind that precisely here is the explanation why the
great discrimination on which citizenship was based has been and still is so difficult
to eliminate (race, sex and property). The tint of scientific truth on which they are
going to be built will permeate society much more than any previous discourse,
because, in theory, these pillars would have been built on empiricism, that is, they
had been scientifically proven.
The generalization of the new ideas led to the progressive emergence of
specific theories, just as it happened in the field of politics. We must not forget that
even at this time it is only about that, ideas and theories that had no correspondence
with the current social reality. The new political theory is called political liberalism
and was based on the conjunction of several French theorists:
Montesquieu, Voltaire and Rousseau.
Montesquieu will defend the need for public powers, then in
the hands of the absolute monarch, to be divided in order to ensure
their proper use. In his work, the Frenchman defines executive power
(in the hands of the government), legislative power (resides in the
Courts) and judicial power (present in independent judges who follow the law
without political influence).
On the other hand, Voltaire is going to present a speech so innovative for the
moment that the idea that Church and State must be separated, that religion must be
something private and personal, it will not be applied, and with reluctance, until the
19th century. that does not transcend government institutions. This idea, on which
later precepts such as freedom of worship will be based, was revolutionary at the
time.
Finally, Rousseau would be the one with the greatest
immediate impact. The philosopher proposed two new concepts that
changed the way of seeing the world and that served as the basis for
the creation of a new political system, the liberal one. The first:
sovereignty, which recognized the authority and political power of
the governed people. This was ceded to the rulers as long as they
made good use of it. This is how the second idea appears: the social contract, which
alludes to this government agreement between the governed and the governors, to
that cession of sovereignty.
In short, liberalism is understood as a political system that recognizes political
power as inherent to a population that cedes it to the rulers through elections. The
estates and social privileges on which the society of the Ancient Regime was based
disappeared to define the citizens who, through suffrage, that is, elections, would
choose their own government.
1.4. The appearance of liberal politics: USA
The first place where liberalism will take hold will be in the 13 American
colonies that at the end of the 18th century were part of England. Despite the fact
that the English political system had established a parliamentary system in the
previous century, the colonies had hardly any representation, so their
decision-making capacity in government matters that affected them was practically
nil. To this must be added the fiscal pressure to which they were subjected after the
7-year war. England, although victorious, had left its coffers empty after the war and
the king, George III, saw in the colonies an opportunity to recover the lost money
through taxes.
It must be understood that English products had a fairly large market in
American lands. Bourgeois families were still descendants of British immigrants who
saw the opportunity for a better future on the other side of the Atlantic. These ties
that united them to the island were maintained, among other things, by the
consumption of English products such as tea, so it was precisely these consumer
goods that were taxed.
The measures were not well received by the population, who immediately saw
taxes that did not affect the rest of the British as unfair. Although the different states
independently drafted their rejection and conveyed their discomfort to the King and
Parliament, they were ignored. It is true that taxes were reduced on some products,
but others, such as the aforementioned tea, were maintained.
Increased social tension and political unrest soon forced British cargo ships to
choose where it was safe to refuel or disembark. However, in December 1773 a ship
containing a large cargo of tea landed in Boston Harbor. Taking advantage of the
general protests, a group of Americans disguised as Indians seized the cargo and
threw the tea worth about 10,000 pounds (approximately one and a half million
euros today) into the waters of the port.
The consequences did not make us wait. The port of Boston was closed and a
kind of martial law was established from England that eliminated both elections and
local justice, becoming directly controlled by England. On the other hand, protests
and outrage in the colonies increased.
Not surprisingly, a year later, in 1774, the First Continental Congress took
place to discuss
the need to
recognize the
colonies as an
independent land.
The British
response was to
send the army in
order to control
the insurgency,
however, in the presence of the soldiers and spontaneously part of the population
began to organize a militia. In Boston, in 1775, the first contest that would start the
American War of Independence would take place.
 However, the war did not begin as such until the following year. On July 4,
1776, the American Declaration of Independence was written, establishing the 13
colonies as part of a sovereign nation independent of England. From this moment
the confrontation with the British army would be not only with militiamen but
against a continental army.
The victory went to the Americans. The English definitively won the Battle of
Yorktown in 1781, although it would not be until two years later, when the Treaty of
Paris was drafted, that England would officially recognize the new nation. The new
United States won for different reasons, but mainly it should be noted that the war
was fought on their land, which translated into a greater knowledge of geography and
a disadvantage for the English who had their starting point on the other side of the
Atlantic. In addition, they had the help and support of other states such as France or
Spain who saw in the independence of the colonies the opportunity to eliminate
England as a competitor in Europe.
During the conflict, national symbols were
defined that are still traceable, such as the US
flag, which today maintains 13 alternating red
and white lines in memory of the original
colonies.
The United States became the first nation to
implement the liberal system, being born from
the outset as a republic and establishing in its
Constitution (1787) the principles that liberal theorists had defined in their works.
1.5. The emergence of liberal politics: France

1.6. Liberal revolutions: struggle and resistance