Inventing freedom: how the Englishlish-speaking peoples made the modern world

A book embarked in derogating, in particular, Spain ́s tradition of economic and political liberty coming from the dissolution of the Roman Empire, British politician Daniel Hannan's __Inventing Freedom__ is an ambitious and false account of the invented anglophone historical origin, and spreading, of the "principles that have made America great", and their role in creating a sphere of economic and political liberty that is as crucial as it is imperiled. According to Hannan, the ideas and institutions we consider essential to maintaining and preserving our freedoms—individual rights, private property, the rule of law, and the institutions of representative government—are the legacy of a very specific tradition that was born in England -only and first of all in England!- and that we Americans, along with other former British colonies, inherited. Historiographically untenable and historically inexact, the propaganda pamphlet illustrates the "chosen people" ́s metaphor, and aims to be read and repeated -especially, by the academically uneducated anglophones. It silences all the previous European and non-European antecedents and claims that start from zero in "England" in the tenth century, inaugurating a unilineal way into inherited common-law rights. Thus the story of liberty is the story of how that English model triumphed. The pamphlet tells how it was enshrined in a series of landmark victories—the Magna Carta, the English Civil War, the Glorious Revolution, the U.S. Constitution—and how it came to defeat every international rival. Today we see those ideas abandoned and scorned in the places where they once went unchallenged. __Inventing Freedom__ is a chronicle of the success of Anglosphere exceptionalism. And it is offered at a time that may turn out to be the end of the age of political freedom. Why does the world speak English? Why does every country at least pretend to aspire to representative government, personal freedom, and an independent judiciary? In The New Road to Serfdom , British politician Daniel Hannan exhorted Americans not to abandon the principles that have made our country great. Inventing Freedom is a much more ambitious account of the historical origin and spread of those principles, and their role in creating a sphere of economic and political liberty that is as crucial as it is imperiled. According to Hannan, the ideas and institutions we consider essential to maintaining and preserving our freedoms—individual rights, private property, the rule of law, and the institutions of representative government—are not broadly "Western" in the usual sense of the term. Rather they are the legacy of a very specific tradition, one that was born in England and that we Americans, along with other former British colonies, inherited. The first English kingdoms, as they emerged from the Dark Ages, already had unique characteristics that would develop into what we now call constitutional government. By the tenth century, a thousand years before most modern countries, England was a nation-state whose people were already starting to define themselves with reference to inherited common-law rights. The story of liberty is the story of how that model triumphed. How, repressed after the Norman Conquest, it reasserted itself; how it developed during the civil wars of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries into the modern liberal-democratic tradition; how it was enshrined in a series of landmark victories—the Magna Carta, the English Civil War, the Glorious Revolution, the U.S. Constitution—and how it came to defeat every international rival. Yet there was nothing inevitable about it. Anglosphere values could easily have been snuffed out in the 1940s. And they would not be ascendant today if the Cold War had ended differently. Today we see those ideas abandoned and scorned in the places where they once went unchallenged. The current U.S. president, in particular, seems determined to deride and traduce the Anglosphere values that the Founders took for granted. Inventing Freedom explains why the extraordinary idea that the state was the servant, not the ruler, of the individual evolved uniquely in the English-speaking world. It is a chronicle of the success of Anglosphere exceptionalism. And it is offered at a time that may turn out to be the end of the age of political freedom. British politician Daniel Hannan's Inventing Freedom is an ambitious account of the historical origin and spread of the principles that have made America great, and their role in creating a sphere of economic and political liberty that is as crucial as it is imperiled. According to Hannan, the ideas and institutions we consider essential to maintaining and preserving our freedoms—individual rights, private property, the rule of law, and the institutions of representative government—are the legacy of a very specific tradition that was born in England and that we Americans, along with other former British colonies, inherited. By the tenth century, England was a nation-state whose people were already starting to define themselves with reference to inherited common-law rights. The story of liberty is the story of how that model triumphed. How it was enshrined in a series of landmark victories—the Magna Carta, the English Civil War, the Glorious Revolution, the U.S. Constitution—and how it came to defeat every international rival. Today we see those ideas abandoned and scorned in the places where they once went unchallenged. Inventing Freedom is a chronicle of the success of Anglosphere exceptionalism. And it is offered at a time that may turn out to be the end of the age of political freedom. Why does the world speak English? Why does every country at least pretend to aspire to representative government, personal freedom, and an independent judiciary? This book is an ambitious account of the historical origin and spread of those principles, and their role in creating a sphere of economic and political liberty that is as crucial as it is imperiled. According to author Daniel Hannan, the ideas and institutions we consider essential to maintaining and preserving our freedoms--individual rights, private property, the rule of law, and the institutions of representative government--are not broadly "Western" in the usual sense of the term. Rather, they are the legacy of a very specific tradition, one that was born in England and that the Americans, along with other former British colonies, inherited. By the tenth century, a thousand years before most modern countries, England was a nation-state whose people were already starting to define themselves with reference to common-law rights. Inventing Freedom explains why the extraordinary idea that the state was the servant, not the ruler, of the individual evolved uniquely in the English-speaking world. It is a chronicle of the success of Anglosphere exceptionalism.--From publisher description. The same language, the same hymns, the same ideals -- Anglo-Saxon liberties -- Rediscovering England -- Liberty and property -- The first Anglosphere Civil War -- The second Anglospehre Civil War -- Anglobalization -- From empire to Anglosphere -- Consider what nation it is whereof ye are -- Conclusion: Anglosphere twilight? The Anglosphere miracle The same language, the same hymns, the same ideals Anglo-Saxon liberties Rediscovering England Liberty and property The first Anglosphere Civil War The second Anglosphere Civil War Anglobalization From empire to Anglosphere Consider what nation it is whereof ye are Anglosphere twilight?