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1688, by Steve Pincus
- Abstract
The onset of the French Revolution in 1789 sparked a heated debate in England concerning the character of its own Glorious Revolution a century before. The philosophical pamphleteer Richard Price called the events of 1688 and 1689 “a bloodless victory” in which “the fetters which despotism had long been preparing for us were broken, the rights of the people were asserted, a tyrant expelled, and a Sovereign of our own choice appointed in his room.”
As a result of it, Price claimed, “security was given to our property, and our consciences were emancipated. The bounds of free enquiry were enlarged; the volume in which are the words of eternal life was laid more open to our examination; and the era of light and liberty was introduced among us, by which we have been made an example to other kingdoms, and became the instructors of the world.”
About the Author
Paul A. Rahe holds the Charles O. Lee and Louise K. Lee Chair in Western Heritage at Hillsdale College and is the author, most recently, of Montesquieu and the Logic of Liberty and Soft Despotism, Democracy’s Drift, both published in 2009.
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