History 163 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Virtual Representation
Document Summary
9/29/16: john locke & c lassic republicanism. Primary role of government is to secure right to property. Had stake in colonies wanted to secure money. Justified taking of indian lands by claiming indians had no claim to ownership because they didn"t work the land (at least not to the extent the british did with formalized farming) Power to tax is power to destroy liberty (because taking property) Man can lose liberty if taxed to greatly. Beginning idea that representative government: virtue & disinterest. Virtue as political notion tied to land ownership. Only man who owns land can be independence # independence is virtue. Make decisions/participate in society with disinterest not for personal gain. Theoretically, to be virtuous was to be self-sufficient. All members of household doing work are dependent. Cannot vote/participate in politics because their votes would be swayed by employer/man of house: property. Taxes were viewed as free gift to the sovereign.
