The American Counter-Revolution in Favor of Liberty : How Americans Resisted Modern State, 1765–1850

This book presents the case that the origins of American liberty should not be sought in the constitutional-reformist feats of its “statesmen” during the 1780s, but rather in the political and social resistance to their efforts. There were two revolutions occurring in the late 18th century America: the modern European revolution “in favour of government,” pursuing national unity, “energetic” government and centralization of power (what scholars usually dub “American founding”); and a conservative, reactionary counter-revolution “in favour of liberty,” defending local rights and liberal individualism against the encroaching political authority. This is a book about this liberal counter-revolution and its ideological, political and cultural sources and central protagonists. The central analytical argument of the book is that America before the Revolution was a stateless, spontaneous political order that evolved culturally, politically and economically in isolation from the modern European trends of state-building and centralization of power. The book argues, then, that a better model for understanding America is a “decoupled modernization” hypothesis, in which social modernity is divested from the politics of modern state and tied with the pre-modern social institutions. Acknowledgements 6 Contents 7 About the Author 9 Part I America and Traditional British Liberties 10 Chapter 1 The American Revolution as the Last European Peasants’ Rebellion 11 References 24 Chapter 2 Consent, Representation, and Liberty: America as the Last Medieval Society 26 Medieval Political Institutions 26 Medieval Liberalism? 39 Conclusion 50 References 51 Chapter 3 Shades of Anarchy: The Concept of Lawful Rebellion in America Introduction 53 Old Germanic Concepts of Resistance 53 American “Private” Law Enforcement—Theoretical Foundations 61 American Private Law Enforcement—Some Notable Examples 64 Conclusion 77 References 77 Part II On a Collision Course with Modern State 80 Chapter 4 Men of Little Faith Facing the Modern State: The Country Party Ideology in Great Britain 81 Introduction 81 Reactionary-Libertarian Ideology of the Country Party 82 The New Financial Empire and the Country Party Economics 86 The Country Party and the British Liberal Mainstream 101 Conclusion 105 References 106 Chapter 5 When in the Course of Human Events...—Hobbes, Locke, and the Long Parliament Against America 108 Introduction: The British State in Legal Theory and Practice 108 Locke, Hobbes, and the American Case 119 Conclusion 130 References 131 Chapter 6 The Great Derailment: Philadelphia Putsch of 1787 and the Coming of the American State 133 Introduction 133 Creeping Statist Revolution 134 Nationalist Defeat and a Renewed Struggle 140 Economic Nationalism v Liberalism 145 The Evils of Disunity 154 Conclusion 163 References 163 Part III States’ Rights Philosophy as a Synthesis and Reconciliation 166 Chapter 7 1776 Strikes Back—Anti-federalist Critics of the Constitution 167 Introduction 167 Critique of Nationalists’ Bad Economics 170 Public Choice and “Ancient Constitution” 177 Anti-federalists and Economic Theory of Federalism 185 Conclusion 191 References 192 Chapter 8 The Compact Theory of the Union—A Revolution Within a Form 194 Introduction 194 Origins of the Jeffersonian Compact Theory 196 Principles of 98 205 Jeffersonian Response to the Nationalist Challenge—Marshall vs Roane; Abel Upshur vs Joseph Story 210 Conclusion 221 References 222 Chapter 9 Free Market in a Small Republic—Economic Doctrines of Jeffersonians and Jacksonians 224 Introduction—Jefferson vs Hamilton 224 John Taylor of Caroline 227 Jacksonians 234 Conclusion 245 References 246 Chapter 10 The Last Stand: John C. Calhoun 248 Introduction 248 General Political Philosophy 249 Calhounian Constitutional Solution and Its Discontents 256 Calhoun the Nationalist—To the End 265 Conclusion 268 References 269 Chapter 11 Conclusion 272 References 278 Front Matter ....Pages i-xi Front Matter ....Pages 1-1 The American Revolution as the Last European Peasants’ Rebellion (Ivan Jankovic)....Pages 3-17 Consent, Representation, and Liberty: America as the Last Medieval Society (Ivan Jankovic)....Pages 19-45 Shades of Anarchy: The Concept of Lawful Rebellion in America Introduction (Ivan Jankovic)....Pages 47-73 Front Matter ....Pages 75-75 Men of Little Faith Facing the Modern State: The Country Party Ideology in Great Britain (Ivan Jankovic)....Pages 77-103 When in the Course of Human Events...—Hobbes, Locke, and the Long Parliament Against America (Ivan Jankovic)....Pages 105-129 The Great Derailment: Philadelphia Putsch of 1787 and the Coming of the American State (Ivan Jankovic)....Pages 131-163 Front Matter ....Pages 165-165 1776 Strikes Back—Anti-federalist Critics of the Constitution (Ivan Jankovic)....Pages 167-193 The Compact Theory of the Union—A Revolution Within a Form (Ivan Jankovic)....Pages 195-224 Free Market in a Small Republic—Economic Doctrines of Jeffersonians and Jacksonians (Ivan Jankovic)....Pages 225-248 The Last Stand: John C. Calhoun (Ivan Jankovic)....Pages 249-272 Conclusion (Ivan Jankovic)....Pages 273-279