American Conservatism: Setting the record straight: Why the Left/Right Model Doesn't Work
(For more than five decades the myth that American Conserv...)
For more than five decades the myth that American Conservatism, if left unchecked, will result in a fascist state has been accepted as fact.
As John Hancock illustrates in this essay, the origins of American conservatism dates back beyond the Declaration of Independence, beyond the founding of the thirteen colonies and all the way back to the fall of the Roman Empire. Over the next twelve centuries, what would become American Conservatism evolved out of the uniquely English value of conserving traditional liberties from the threat posed by the power of the state. This definition, in itself, means that American conservatism cannot lead to a tyrannical or authoritarian form of government.
Within this essay you will discover:
How completely false and reprehensible the above myth is;
How the Left/Right Paradigm is inapplicable to American politics;
How the Liberty vs. Authority paradigm is a better model;
How to indentify American conservatives whose goal is to conserve traditional liberties from those who are more concerned with preserving the traditional authority of the established ruling class;
The root cause of the "civil war" that is currently raging within the Republican Party
John Hancock was an American merchant, statesman, and prominent Patriot of the American Revolution.
Background
John Hancock was born on January 23, 1737 in Braintree, Massachusetts in a part of town that eventually became the separate city of Quincy.
He was the son of Colonel John Hancock Jr. of Braintree and Mary Hawke Thaxter (widow of Samuel Thaxter Junior), who was from nearby Hingham.
As a child, Hancock became a casual acquaintance of young John Adams, whom the Reverend Hancock had baptized in 1735.
The Hancocks lived a comfortable life, and owned one slave to help with household work.
The orphaned son of an impecunious minister, he was adopted by his uncle, Thomas Hancock, the richest merchant in Boston.
Education
After graduating from Harvard College in 1754, John entered his uncle’s mercantile firm.
Like many young merchants being groomed to take over the family business, John was sent for a short period to England to complete his commercial education.
Career
John returned to Boston in 1761 and two years later became a partner in Thomas Hancock and Company.
He traveled with six horses and several servants, set a fine table, and was partial to imported goods such as Madeira wine.
In 1764 Thomas Hancock died, leaving the twenty-seven-year-old John as head of the firm and heir to the bulk of his uncle’s £70, 000 fortune. Revolutionary Leader.
The wealthy young merchant led a life of ease and luxury.
His uncle's death, when John was twenty-seven, made him the head of the House of Hancock and the possessor of one of the greatest fortunes in America.
Although he continued in business until 1775, John showed no great talents for trade.
In 1765 Hancock protested to his English correspondents against the Stamp Act.
When Parliament’s new commissioners arrived in late 1767 to tighten enforcement of the customs laws, Hancock refused to allow the militia unit that he commanded to participate in the welcoming ceremonies.
He became even more of a public patriotic figure in 1768, when Massachusetts was in the midst of mob violence following the imposition of the Townshend duties.
Tensions with the customs officials worsened, and in April, Hancock had his men forcibly remove two minor officials from his brig Lydia for going below decks without a warrant.
When the British warship Romney arrived in June, the officials saw their chance to send a clear message that they would no longer tolerate smuggling and other acts of noncompliance.
A mob of several hundred roamed the town’s streets hunting for and harassing customs officials.
Hancock refused to capitulate.
He was defended in court by his friend John Adams, and the suit was dropped after a few months.
The incident convinced Parliament to send troops into Boston; it also enhanced Hancock’s prestige among patriots.
But in 1773 the Tea Act once again threw Boston into an uproar.
In 1774 Hancock was chosen to deliver the oration on the fourth anniversary of the Boston Massacre.
He exhorted his listeners “if necessary” to “fight and even die for the prosperity of our Jerusalem. ”
In late 1774 Hancock was made a delegate to the Second Continental Congress that was to meet in Philadelphia the following June.
Hancock’s radicalism marked him as a serious troublemaker in the eyes of the British, and in April 1775 General Thomas Gage attempted to seize him and Samuel Adams for high treason.
Warned by Paul Revere, Hancock and Adams escaped just as the battles of Lexington and Concord began.
They made their way to Philadelphia to attend the Second Continental Congress and were cheered as heroes in towns along the way.
Adams and Hancock had become so notorious that General Gage specifically exempted them from the British offer of general amnesty, part of an attempt to restore peace.
Hancock later became president of Congress, and he was the first to sign the Declaration of Independence on 4 July 1776.
He did it boldly and with characteristic flourish, and today his signature is recognized the world over as a symbol of the American Revolution.
Hancock had ceased to be actively involved in his firm’s business upon being elected to the Massachusetts provincial congress in 1774.
Hancock stood for the governorship again after the trouble subsided, eventually serving a total of nine terms.
In 1788 he presided at the state convention that ratified the United States Constitution.
Hancock had been reluctant to support the Constitution, but at a crucial moment he offered amendments that satisfied the AntiFederalists, and Massachusetts ratified.
Hancock never matched the business talents of his uncle.
He was serving as governor of Massachusetts when he died in 1793 at age fifty-six.
Achievements
He served as president of the Second Continental Congress and was the first and third Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
He is remembered for his large and stylish signature on the United States Declaration of Independence, so much so that the term John Hancock has become a synonym in the United States for one's signature.
Before the American Revolution, Hancock was one of the wealthiest men in the Thirteen Colonies, having inherited a profitable mercantile business from his uncle. He began his political career in Boston as a protégé of Samuel Adams, an influential local politician, though the two men later became estranged.
Hancock used his wealth to support the colonial cause as tensions increased between colonists and Great Britain in the 1760s.
He became very popular in Massachusetts, especially after British officials seized his sloop Liberty in 1768 and charged him with smuggling.
Those charges were eventually dropped; he has often been described as a smuggler in historical accounts, but the accuracy of this characterization has been questioned.
Hancock was one of Boston's leaders during the crisis that led to the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War in 1775.
He served more than two years in the Continental Congress in Philadelphia, and he was the first to sign the Declaration of Independence in his position as president of Congress.
He returned to Massachusetts and was elected governor of the Commonwealth, serving in that role for most of his remaining years.
He used his influence to ensure that Massachusetts ratified the United States Constitution in 1788.
Views
As relations with Britain improved in the early 1776, Hancock’s radicalism subsided somewhat.
Connections
Both men were staying in Thomas Hancock’s former home in Lexington, Massachusetts, along with Dorothy Quincy, whom John Hancock married later that year.
