The Sacred Fire of Liberty

Abstract

The sacred fire of liberty framed the ideology that formed the revolutions of England, France and the United States of America. These triumphs guided many other states, until the strength of liberty became the measure of political legitimacy throughout the world. But the strain of revolution pulled liberty away from its sources in republican government. Liberty for many came to mean little more than a greater ability to do what one wants. This violated the ancient distinction between liberty and license, reflecting deep changes in European attitudes, following the violent excesses and ultimate failure of (ostensibly) republican government in France. The idea of liberty and the republican model of government grew up together in Rome, and were still firmly linked two thousand years later at George Washington’s inauguration, when he endorsed the “sacred” experiment of the American people. After Robespierre, European friends of liberty despaired of republican institutions, seeking their “liberties” instead from emperors and kings. This created the new doctrine of liberalism, which preached liberty without politics, in deference to “enlightened” rulers and their judicial employees.KeywordsCommon GoodEuropean HistoryRepublican GovernmentPopular SovereigntyPositive LibertyThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.