Category Archives: HIST107-Archive

Early Socialist Thinkers: Owen, Saint-Simon, and Marx

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1.) “The Legacy of Robert Owen to the Population of the World”

Author: Robert Owen. Welsh cotton manufacturer. Utopian socialist and a founder of the cooperative movement. Founder of (failed) New Harmony colony in the U.S. Had a vision of an ideal society.

Context: Great Britain, 1844. Industrial Revolution. Many of the Factory Acts were in place, including many that regulated child labor.

Language: Persuasive, confident, hopeful

Audience: The Grand National Consolidated Trades Union of Great Britain and Ireland

Intent: To persuade listeners to begin a bloodless revolution driven by morality and wisdom.

Message: A complete reworking of society was necessary. “Men of industry” should unite to begin the bloodless revolution that will lead to a new and improved state of human existence.

Why?: Many factory owners during the Industrial Revolution abused their workers with long hours, unsafe conditions, and low wages. Owen ran his factories more benevolently and saw a utopic vision in which all of society was based on moral correctness and wisdom.

2.) “The Incoherence and Disorder of Society”

Author: Claude Henri de Rouvroy, comte de Saint-Simon. French political and economic theorist. Businessman. Believed in a meritocracy. Fought in the American Revolution. Supporter of French Revolution and imprisoned during the Reign of Terror.

Context: Saint-Simon lived in France under Napoleon and during the Bourbon Restoration (constitutional monarchy). Frequent occurrences of civil unrest.

Language: Passionate, sarcastic at times, easy to read

Audience: The industrial class–everyone engaged in productive work.

Intent: Disprove the principle behind laissez-faire economics. Advocate for a meritocracy.

Message: Industry needed to address the needs of the industrial class. Economics cannot be focused merely on statistics; society needs to take care of people and their needs.

Why?: Saint-Simon fought in the American Revolution, and his time in America likely exposed him to a society with fewer class distinctions than the one in which he lived. He also supported the French Revolution’s principles of equality, liberty, and fraternity, and his own work argues in favor of these principles as well. The Bourbon Restoration provided a more conservative government to France, and Saint-Simon may have reacted against his government’s conservative attitudes.

3.) “Estranged Labor” from Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844

Author: Karl Marx. German philosopher, economist, and socialist. Moved to Paris in 1843. Prolific Writer. Father of Marxism.

Context: Marx lived in France during the July Monarchy, which was a time of liberal constitutional monarchy. Paris was the de facto headquarters for revolutionaries from all over Europe.

Language: Challenging to follow, very convoluted arguments, passionate tone

Audience: The intended audience (workers; the common man) likely differs from the audience who would be capable of actually comprehending Marx’s argument (academics and philosophers).

Intent: Turn society against capitalism.

Message: Capitalism hurts the laboring class because the more wealth a worker produces, the poorer he becomes. He is alienated from his product and estranged from himself. Society is divided into these propertyless workers and the owners of that property.

Why?: Other economic thinkers of the time, such as Ludwig Feuerbach influenced Marx, and he lived in Paris at a time when revolutionary minds filled the city. The July Monarchy followed the more conservative Bourbon Restoration, bringing a more liberal view into focus. Marx met many people who shared his views, and his views fermented and strengthened in this atmosphere.

 

 

Essay on Population

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Author: Thomas Robert Malthus, political economist in England, professor of East India Company College. Opponent of optimistic enlightenment opinions. His father is Rousseau’s friend.

Context: Essay on Population was published at late 18th century, England was almost finished the first industrial revolution. Population growed tremendously because of the development of medical technology which decreased the death rate and the increase of food supply by more efficient farming methods and machines. At that time, most of economists believe that population growth has positive effect to economy.

Language: The author deduced his opinion based on the population growth during the 18th century by mathmatic method. He believe that the population growth rate is exponential increasing and food supply rate is liner increasing. So the increasing of population will cause starvation. His method is basically right, but his data only include the 18th century Europe(or England), he didn’t foresee that the population slow down and the food supply increased faster than liner by new technology.

Audience: Congress, Malthus believe the lower class should be responsible for the population growth and government should limit the population growth. His essay influenced the legislation at 1830s.

Intent: To conclude the population surplus theory for remind the government to control the population growth.

Message: the food supply increasing rate is much more slower than the population growth rate, the growth of population will decrease the productivity. So it’s necessary to control the population growth.

Division of Labor

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In An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, the author is pro Division of Labor. The author begins by giving a background of each chapter and reciting the powers of labor and produce. Throughout this excerpt, he goes into detail of the benefits of Division of Labor. One of these benefits include working together as a team, this allows people to help one another and complete more items than if working alone. Another benefit the author states is that a countries’ supply depends on its annual labor. Its annual labor is the only source of income. This passage discusses the vast improvements of labor and distribution. In this system, the poor are included, unlike an individual system where each is on their own. This allows for the opportunity for many to have a job and support their families rather than abandoning the old and young to fend for themselves.

The author also argues that when working in a separate environment, as farming, the expenses increase and production is less. The author states that by “making this one purpose his sole purpose in life, he is able to produce more than others who don’t have this one particular skill”. This enables those who work best at the skill to complete more than someone who does not have prior knowledge about the skill, allowing for speedy manufacturing.

The author describes those in a position above the workers as “philosophers, people who only observe work but do not partake in machinery”. The author considers this a governed society with inspirational leaders. This allows the workers to be convinced that they are getting the better hand of the deal. It is explained as accommodation and supply. The author finds Division of Labor to be a positive aspect of the work environment. It is a pyramid system with the workers at the bottom, with the least amount of say.

The Wealth of Nations and Essay on Population

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An Inquiry into the Nature and Cause of the Wealth of Nations

Author: Adam Smith. A pioneering economist who developed revolutionary concepts associated with free market economic theory. He argued that rational people, acting in their own self-interest, could create en efficient economic system. He studied in England but was of Scottish decent. He was influenced by the Scottish Enlightenment.

Context: The work was published in 1776. It was published during the beginning of the industrial revolution in response to the outdated economic ideas of the time. The industrial revolution necessitated a new understanding of how a modern economic systems function.

Language: Very clear and concise; he argues his points with many examples and avoids using difficult rhetoric.

Audience: Intellectuals and Industry leaders of the day. Since the language is easily comprehended this work could also appeal to intellectually curious members of the middle and upper classes.

Intent: To explain how the division of labor leads to a boost in output. A team of workers, each of whom have one specific task, can produce a good far more efficiently than one man who must be versed in every phase of production.

Message: Industrialization and the division of labor provide societies with far more good than societies who are less developed and who do not capitalize on the advantages that the division of labor provides. The standard of living in industrialized societies is superior because goods are more numerous and attainable, so there is less disparity between the upper and lower class than in underdeveloped nations. 

 

First Essay on Population (1798)

Author: Thomas Malthus. He was a highly educated Englishmen who had strong ties with the Church of England. He was well versed in the humanities, but also in mathematics. He argued against many popular opinions of the time, which is perhaps why he first published the work under the alias Joseph Johnson.

Context: Industrialization had spurred rapid population growth, especially in urban areas. Many Enlightenment thinkers who believed that society would continue to constantly improve without any hitches surrounded him. Some of his beliefs were in contrast with those of his friends, so he sought to cast doubt on their beliefs by pointing disconcerting population trends.

Language: Eloquent and declamatory. Does a good job hammering his point.

Audience: Targeted towards the intellectuals of the society. He originally wrote this piece in rebuttal to some of his enlightenment-influenced colleagues and friends. Although the text has many repercussions for everyday people, I doubt they composed much of the audience.

Intent: To prove that human society can never be perfected because if it is proven that it cannot be perfected in one particular area, then those who belief it can be perfected as a whole will be proven wrong.

Message: Humanity is trapped in a vicious cycle that coincides with food production and the population. When the population of a particular area reaches a certain point it will usher in a period of misery or vice because the demand for food exceeds the supply. Eventually the situation will become tolerable once again as food production is bolstered through human innovation, but this cycle will once again repeat itself as populations continue to grow past a certain threshold. This reality is unavoidable as it is inseparable form human nature. Thus humanity can never achieve perfection.

ACLAIMing a Great Method for Primary Sources

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An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations:

 

Author: Adam Smith (1723-1790)

  • British philosopher and key member of the Scottish Enlightenment period; the “father of modern economics”; lots of higher education at the University of Glasgow and Oxford (although he preferred to study on his own when at Oxford).
  • Born into a relatively well-off family; father worked for the government; Smith was able to attend a relatively prestigious school.
  • Close relationship with David Hume, a fellow Scottish intellectual
  • The Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759) made Adam Smith well known in his area
    • Gets him a tutoring job with a young Duke
  • Tutoring job enabled Smith to travel and meet various intellectual greats in the areas he traveled to
    • One of which was Turgot!
    • Tutor job ended in 1766, and Smith returned home soon after

 

Context:

  • Industrial revolution in Britain – technology is moving quite fast
  • Published three months after Thomas Paine’s Common Sense pamphlet
  • Pre-French Revolution → prior to the large class struggle and upheaval → would not have impacted his writing

 

Language: Smith wrote in an educated manner, meant to be understood by those with an educated background. Long paragraphs make it harder to read, and as such, it is quite dense.

 

Audience: Smith presumably was writing for those that could understand him, thus, the educated people of Britain. Economically, this would likely have included the middle class, the bourgeoisie, and the upper class.

 

Intent: Intrigued by the latest developments in Britain, in his writing, Smith appears to be making comments and theories regarding the economic state of Britain. In some cases, he was trying to explain a recent economic history of Britain, and how it could be a model for future use and growth of the nation.

 

Message: In short, Smith advocated the division of labor, and credited it to the increase in the skill of the workforce, the increased efficiency of keeping key information about working between generations of people, and the innovations and inventions in technology. He believed that if the nation continued along these trends, then the nation’s economy would continue to grow.

 

 

Essay on Population

 

Author: Thomas Malthus (1766-1834)

  • English cleric and scholar
  • Born into a relatively affluent family
  • Moved quickly through his higher education, doing well at Cambridge and winning lots of awards and contests
  • His most notable work is the “Essay on Population,” as it is now known as
    • Consistently made updated versions of the essay, between 1798 and 1826, to ensure current examples and to combat critiques

 

Context:

  • The essay originally was not published under his own name
  • The Industrial Revolution continued to persist in Britain
  • There is a large amount of economic and population growth due to increased technological efficiency
  • This is written after Smith’s Wealth of Nations, but is more specifically a response to William Godwin’s Enquiry Concerning Political Justice

 

Language: The language of the essay is very straightforward and easy to read. The essay is structured in a simplistic manner, making it easier to follow than Smith.

 

Audience: Malthus was likely writing for every literate person, so that his warning may spread. However, it was likely more specifically directed towards those with control over population and territorial expansion.

 

Intent: Malthus’s intent was to respond to a rival intellectual’s theories about population and resources. It, in many ways, is a warning to present and future society about perceived limitless expansion.

 

Message: Malthus argued that population growth was very likely to continue due to natural conditions and desires that promote population growth. However, Malthus argues that population and economic growth cannot be unchecked and limitless, because of the scarcity of resources. If population numbers continue to rise, it will increase the risk of famine and disease.

 

 

Smith’s Wealth of Nations and Malthus’ Essay on Population

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The Wealth of Nations, 1776

Author: Adam Smith was a Scottish moral philosopher, and is known as “the father of modern economics.” He enjoyed a thorough education at the University of Glasgow, and after graduating traveled around Europe as a tutor.

Context: Smith wrote The Wealth of Nations during the Industrial Revolution. It was published shortly after Thomas Paine’s Common Sense. At the time, Great Britain’s economy was booming, and it’s imperialist influence was spreading through Africa, the Americas, and Asia.

Language: Smith uses simple and concise language. His ideas are well developed and clearly explained.

Audience: The Wealth of Nations targeted an educated demographic. Smith wanted to influence people who could affect the economy, like business men, philosophers, and political officials.

Intent: The objective was to explain economic ideas, like productivity, division of labor, free markets, and the invisible hand. The first chapter discusses the division of labor

Message: The Wealth of Nations is a collection of ideas that Smith hypothesized would build a nation’s prosperity. The first chapter focusses on the three benefits of the division of labor. Firstly, with divided labor, each contributor is very good at producing his or her product, and can therefore produce a lot of it. Secondly, dividing labor prevents contributors from having to switch tasks, which wastes time. Thirdly, when contributors focus on one simple task, they are more likely to find an easier, more efficient way to perform that task.

Essay on Population, 1798

Author: Thomas Robert Malthus was an English cleric and scholar. He believed that society can never be perfect, and disagreed with many 18th century enlightenment thinkers. He pioneered Malthusianism, which explains the “preventative checks” on populations, such as disease, food supply, and available space.

Context: Disease and famine were common in England, even with the agricultural and medical advancements form the Industrial Revolution. England’s population was increasing, and people were starting to live longer

Language: Malthus uses colorful and descriptive language.

Audience: Malthus’ Essay on Population targeted an intellectual demographic. It’s audience was even more specific than Smith’s Wealth of Nations. Malthus wanted to influence scholars and thinkers like himself

Intent: The goal was to show that society cannot be perfect. There will always be food shortages, disease, and other problems.

Message: There is a cap on every human population. Disease, limited food, and limited space prevent society from increasing forever. Once the population gets too big, people will die off because of a lack of food or space. As the population drops, more food or space will become available. The population will rise again, only to fall as food or space become scarce.

Essay on Population and The Wealth go Nations

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Essay on Population, 1798

Author: Thomas Mathus. Malthus was an English cleric and scholar, and was very influential in the fields of demography and political economics. He did not believe society was perfectible, and wrote in opposition to many Enlightened thinkers of his era.

Context-Famine was a fact of everyday life in England, even as agriculture was making major advances in efficiency and increased productions. However, the population continued to rise, and production of food was unable to meet demands.

Language: Slightly more difficult and has a flowery, descriptive tone

Audience: This essay is clearly intended for an intellectual crowd. Malthus is arguing against other philosophers of his era, such as Godwin, and assumes his audience is familiar with their writings.

Intent: Malthus writes to explain that human society cannot be perfected because our desire to reproduce cannot be overcome, so food production will never reach the demands of the population

Message: Humanity cannot be perfected. Unlike animals, humans possess reason, although reason alone cannot allow humans to overcome the instinct to reproduce. Each time food production increases, the population will increase to the point where there is a shortage of food. Humankind will be trapped in a cycle, which prevents the perfection of humankind.

The Wealth of Nations, 1776

Author: Adam Smith, who is also known as “the father of economics.” Smith’s Wealth of Nations is known as the first modern work of economics.

Context: Wealth of Nations was published three months after Thomas Paine’s pamphlet, Common Sense. Smith was writing during the time in which England was experiencing the industrial revolution, and the structure of the economy had changed drastically in a relatively short time period.

Language: The writing style is very clear and explanatory

Audience: The audience has more of an intellectual base, and is targeted towards those who wish to understand the workings of the relatively new economy.

Intent: To explain the division of labor

Message: The division of labor makes production more efficient and cheaper, and even simple items go through numerous stages of production. Due to this division, even poor and frugal individuals who live in a “civilized society” use items that require almost unimaginable amounts of labor.

 

Fichte’s new Germany

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Johann Gottlieb Fichte, was a Germany Philosopher, and reformer, who was also a great supporter of the French Revolution. Fichte would have been considered a liberal at the time who wanted to see the lower classes rise up, and take a portion of prosperity for themselves. His ideals came from the area of Europe in which he lived. Fichte was a resident of Berlin, which was not part of one specific nation. Berlin was much like an Italian City-State during the Renaissance because it was not always under control of one nation or kingdom.

The Germany that we know today did not exist in anyway what so ever. The region that is called Germany today was a collection of over thirty different states that were never autonomous with each other. Napoleon was the first man to unite the German states into a specific body, the Confederation of the Rhine. This action started to bring German speakers together.

This increase in the idea that people who had the same language, customs, and cultural identity could be a nation was new, but one that soon became very popular with German citizens of the many different states. Fichte’s proto-nationalism was widely read, and his writings, and the writings of many other early 19th century thinkers became the “bibles” of the great nation builders such as Otto Von Bismark in Germany, and Garibaldi in Italy.

German Nationalism

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Philosophers and authors Johann Gottlieb Fichte and Johann Gottfried von Herder both had very similar ideas on what it meant to be a nation and what it meant for a group of humans living in a defined area to become a nation. In order to become a nation they all had to identify themselves similarly. Both of these authors came out of a turbulent time for Germany, Fitche was writing in 1806 and von Herder was in 1784. This time period in Europe can be recognized by the nations that began to form, no longer was Europe divided into many different municipalities scattered about.
The French Revolution began just five years after von Herder wrote his Materials for the Philosophy of the History of Mankind. As von Herder watched the years of turmoil leading up to the French Revolution, as he watched the people of France become a single body working towards a single goal he theorized the importance of nations but more importantly nationalism. He saw that a group of people who have been defined by nature, whether it be language, terrestrial setting, or race, could gain a sense of purpose when they become proud of their sense of belonging to a nation. To relate this idea to popular culture all that one has to do is look at the Super Bowl and its super fans. These people get a sense of belonging when they watch their teams accomplish great acts and support them in any way they can find, whether it be building a giant Seahawks logo on their front lawn or getting the “Patriots, Super Bowl XLIX Champions” tattooed on their chest a week before the game is even played. Meanwhile a team also benefits from such fanaticism because it bolsters their morale and provides support for their purpose. This is the exact same way that nationalism works for a nation, the people are proud to be part of their nation so they support their nation, in return, with this support, the nation can accomplish great things, which creates more pride.
Fichte followed up von Herder’s ideas 22 years later, after the French Revolution had ended but just at the beginning of Napoleon’s conquests into Germany. Fichte was now looking at a united country of France, one that had found its nationalism and was proud to be. Napoleon had occupied many of the small insignificant Germanic townships and cities with ease and forced Fichte to see the importance of a nation, both from the self defense perspective and for the over all efficiency of a territory. He argues that “Thus was the German nation placed-sufficiently united within itself by a common language and a common way of thinking, and sharply enough severed from the other peoples-in the middle of Europe, as a wall to divide races not akin ….” (Fichte), meaning that there was a clear “German Nation”. An area defined by nature, language and common culture that significantly enough that it should become a single nation, a single nation which the people recognize and take pride in. Fichte proclaims that “German states, whose separate existence was in itself contrary to all nature and reason” (Fichte), he is clearly stating an obvious importance in the states of Germany to cease to be divided. If the nation-states were to cease to be divided then, as a nation, the Germans could become more than what they were. Both of these men helped to define the meaning of nationalism and they truly helped to show its power in the formation and longevity of nations.

The French Political and Cultural Revolutions

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****Response to Friday’s prompt that I was having issues posting
The transition from absolutism to enlightenment brought a new set of societal ideals that impacted both the political and social structure of France. By turning the hierarchical political system on its head, a significant cultural revolution was bound to accompany it.
Kant, in his analysis of enlightenment described it as man’s ability “to make use of understanding without direction from another” (Kant 1). This new emphasis on reason and self-reliance very directly confronts the old absolutist hierarchy, where everyone is reliant upon those higher in the social/political estate system. Similarly, Turgot also reflected on these changing principles by underlining the self-sufficient providers and farmers of the third estate as the most important part of society. This in hand with economic hardship and ideological influences from the American Revolution encouraged the third estate to fracture from the old absolutist system in favor of one where each individual voice had the opportunity to express his opinions.
France’s cultural revolution tailed on the heels of the countries crumbling political structure. As the estate system turned upside down, individuals began searching for their voice in the new system. During the absolutist regime the church was a huge part of the broken political system, so symbols of this past regime were abolished as quickly as possible. A new calendar was erected, churches were renamed, and names of former Kings and Queens were banned. This vast cultural upheaval was a direct reflection of the political upheaval that had just taken place. People simply wanted out with the old and in with the new. In this case, the old was marked by the church and monarchs and the new was marked by reason.
Another huge cultural phenomenon that was intertwined with the political revolution was a newly born French nationalism. In La Marseilles, a new French identity is expressed in lyrics such as “sacred love of the fatherland, guide and support our vengeful arms” (Modern History Source Book 1). People who had fought together suddenly identified with their fellow countrymen, and culture began taking on a French identity instead of a regional one. This would again connect with the political phenomenon of the former third estate having a say in political affairs; people had a reason to unite culturally after having united politically. Having a new voice in the system, those in the far corners of France suddenly felt more connected to the capitol.