family which being matrilineal was returned to the mother but that is retrospective but it as to why we return to the mother means personal liberty. ..

you will pry out, the lord will not hear you because the king you have chosen for yourselves. this is a for a powerful warning. this is repeated over and over and over for thousands of years. and, indeed, this particular passage is quoted in thomas paine very important book commonsense which is the book that launched of the american war for independence. this is nature of the king. so a very strong warning from that ancient book. think about a greek civilization. another place often associate with liberty is athens. ride about 500 b.c. they achieved a remarkable high level of wealth and personal freedom. there have been a number of reforms in athens in particular which was preeminent among these greek city states.

the reforms from 594, and then very, very important the reforms of 508 which established a constitutional order with very, very significant features for our tradition of liberty. he reorganized the voting system so that people were represented in different ways. this is like an early version of what we have of the house and the senate. if you have the same people organize and represent in different ways. you don't just have a mass or a mob but a multitude of ways in which views can be expressed, debated and articulated, people can represent the interest. and also the institution of personal freedom of expression of your views. you could come to the assembly as a free person, i should make a quick note, one should not romanticize these cases. this is not a free society as we understand. it was just much greater than the others at the time, and most people did not have personal

freedom. there was lots and lots and lots of slaves, and women who did not have the same rights as men. on the other hand, there were independent women. athens was famous for that. socrates -- they were very influential women intellectuals who were able to hold court and be part of the society. so again not romanticizing it as a society of full legal equality and freedom, but by the standards of the day, quite advanced. you could go into the assembly, argue for something, lose and not be punished for what you have said in the assembly. on behalf of your ideas. that is one of the very first, possibly the first recorded case of something that later we call freedom of speech, the right to express your views even though it be with the overwhelming disapproval by others. the athenians had supported the

ionians, the greek cities of the ionians in the revolt against the persians. and they decided to punish them. the first invasion of greece by the persians, and they are defeated and driven back, the famous battle of marathon. and then the second invasion similarly, the greek mainland are successful in defeating the persians. the significance of this is that it brings about a tremendous discussion increased, what is it we were fighting for? the persians did not offer terribly unreasonable terms. they wanted submission. they wanted to have certain tokens sent to the great emperor of submission. had to submit to them to would've been a persian garrison set up there. it would have pay some taxes but it wasn't that bad. the greeks said no. we refuse.

we would rather die. and, of course, the famous case of the battle of the 30 and one of the most last stands in history led to a great discussion, what is it that we were fighting for. and this discussion of freedom and law, constitutionalism, takes place on many greek poets and playwrights and philosophers that leads to an enormous intellectual flourishing, as why did we do that, what were we fighting about. similarly when sparta and athens goes to war after that, we have two different systems, if you will struggling. the spartans are beloved of almost all philosophers, prefer the spartans. if you go down the list of philosophers, the athenians are spartans, spartans, spartans, spartans. they when generally. they are orderly, disciplined,

have strong moral code and the like. the athenians, businesspeople. really. business people. merchants, women. they let women talk. in public? they let foreigners live there. in fact, aristotle is called a sticker because -- -- they call them green card holders if you will. bit of agreeing card holders -- they allowed green card holders but they didn't have any national purpose. there was no state educational system unlike in sparta. it was all private. what kind of civilization is that. but as andrew coulson, one of my colleagues here at the cute institute, a wonderful book he did on the history of education, he said let's think about it. athens is not a state education

system. it's all in the market. wiseguys if you will going around selling their instruction for money, and sparta essentially planned educational systems. from athens we can't poetry, drama, arithmetic, music, geometry, astronomy history, biology, not occult sciences -- not occult sciences. by missing a fewer unsure. and from sparta we get the names of a lot of american high school football teams. [laughter] >> that's the primary contribution to human culture is the fighting spartans of whatever high school. so this athenians society with its relatively high degree of personal liberty produces a remarkable culture. sparta with its centrally

planned single purpose society leads virtually nothing of value to austerity. this is articulated rather neatly in the funeral of transit as reported during the war. the beautiful speech, very substantial a speech about freedom, about the freedom the athenians citizens enjoy in contrast to their enemies, the spartans. each one of our citizens and all the aspects of life is able to show himself the rightful lord and owner of his own person. he says we are not afraid to debate things in public. we have discussions about things. we think it's better to talk about them first, and then resolve to go out and fight if that's what we have to do, rather than have order to fight. but that is the life of a free person.

weekend in turn to the roman republic, and again i have to apologize, a lot of other interesting things are happening around the world but we have limited time. and look at the fundamental structures of the roman republic. a few important dates that i put up there, but the key element of the roman republic is their constitution. the romans are not particularly famous as poets. there's virtual, but not that many compared to the greeks. they are not the finest sculptors. they basically copy most of the products of the greeks. you are a couple things you really good at the. they are good at engineering, right? anyone who lives in europe or who has been to europe, you see roman ruins all over. they have the best ruins contractors ever. [laughter] go to the place, put up a ruins right would. and they are still there. you can find aqueducts still carrying water to towns that were built by the own. so some of those things they

built to last the are very good military engineers as well. they were good lawyers. good constitutionalist. the roman law is an enduring product. again, roman poetry has some highlights, but nothing to rival that of the greeks. but the roman law is something that is remarkable. the roman constitution is a whole set of offices and offsetting powers to in effect make it very difficult for any one person to seize the control of the apparatus of government. just think about tribunes and sensors, consoles, and all these different offices, each one with a set of privileges and power that can be used to check others in various ways. so the roman constitution is a very complex body of offices and powers that almost as if it were decided to make it difficult for someone to seize power.

and it lasts a rather long time but it does finally get undermined, this is true of many constitutional systems in history, and sometimes people will dismiss it. no, oh, those do not work, they're not important but it did last longer than the american public has lasted. we don't know how long that will last. it may go on for a long time. it may not. so we should try to look at these cases and draw what lessons we can as to why the constitution was undone. the republic was destroyed, and here we get to mention cato, the very indirect name giver to the cato institute. in 46 b.c., after the defeat of about, he knew what would happen. he support the senatorial forces with his soldiers to fight

against julius caesar. he was defeated and he was well aware of what caesar plan to do. name the, pardon him. and by pardoning him as he's done with others, he removed his authority and power as a symbol of resistance. so as a consequence he retired to his chamber, it's very beautifully written. he goes in, he reads plato's dialogue twice, and meditates on a, thinks about it, he then asks for his sword to be brought. you can feel the drama, expectation building, and then they don't want to do it. he demanded. it is brought him. the doors are closed to he falls on it. and expires but here comes the doctors to push his intestines

back and he cares them to be sure he will die. he has to die. because he will die the last free man in rome and he wanted to make a point. the republic has been undone. the republic has been killed. another one of his allies who was killed a few years later was beheaded was marcus cicerone. cicerone had an enormous influence on the subsequent cultures that emerged in europe for a variety of reasons. he was one of the greatest orator's and one of the greatest lawyers, but also he wrote beautiful latin. he wrote down his speeches and his letters in exquisite latin. and it's a kind of historical action that we have these doctors because people copied them to learn latin. so this was the best model, was to copy cicerone over and over, and master the latin grammar and vocabulary that way.

he was beheaded and then silver tongue plunged, silver pen plunged through his tongue to stop him up so you would never make any terrible speeches as he had against mark antony. cicerone is quite important because he transmitted classical doctrines of natural law and natural justice to the modern world. we know a great deal of these kinds of ideas of the roman lawyers because of the cicerone, and because of this exit is if you will that his works are repeatedly copied. now, it's important remember that the classical world comes to an end. these civilizations are conquered by outsiders, and the collapse. and there is a period of the retreat of urban civilization, the retreat of literacy, the

dark ages as it's known. a very serious discontinuity in european history. but later civilization was urbanized begin to come but i'm going to talk about a number of things that are happening at about the same time, and influencing each other. i'll make another comment about philosophy of history. in the complex event, serving the emergence of liberty or constitutionalism, or even the cause of the first world war, is multi-causal. if you find -- the cause of acts, you should be skeptical. x. is public it it probably has a multitude of different contributing causes. so in this case there are many different events going on. no one is the cost of the other but they influence each other as they happen. so we'll start with one of the most important events that distinguishes western europe from the rest of the eurasian

landmass, and that is what was called the freedom of the church. the christian church is obviously deeply important institution throughout all those areas as that converts. but at the same time there are attempts to use the church for political purposes. something quite significant happens. move back before these things that have appeared to the year 800. and think about rome. the roman empire is gone in the west. still persists in the east, so-called byzantine empire but they called it the roman empire at the time. the last roman emperor was expelled from rome in 476. and booted out by one of his german generals, so there's no longer a roman emperor in rome but it's still rome, one of the greatest cities in the world.

there's another person is taken up residence there am a christian bishop of rome. and in a way, he begins to feel the space that's been left by the roman interior, in terms of authority and also even titles. think about this person as the pope, the poppe, means that daddy of the church, if you will. that may someday be a moment, we shall see, but the pope has this authority up in the bishop of rome, not just the bishop of cincinnati or something. but the bishop of rome. someone is many titles are pontiffs because i shoot a ancient roman title, the college of pakistan a very significant function in the roman constitutional system that is responsible for bridges and so one. and the pope is the one who built the bridge between earth and heaven. he is the pontiff as well.

many other important titles. i've always been personally fond of universal primate, which thinks of -- [laughter] but in effect what happens is the bishop of rome begins to fill the space. that's what it is the roman and catholic, catholic means universal in greek, it is the universal and roman church. in the year 800, the pope having been kicked out of rome by the citizens of their calls on his very loyal follower, a man named corollas magnus, which is also, it's a beautiful name, at least i think so. corollas magnus. in the latin it means big charles. [laughter] basically what, so it's like big tony or something like that. he is a warlord effectively. so he calls on big charles, corollas magnus, and named by

way which if you say it for 1000 years, nonstop it will start to sound like charlemagne. which is where we get charlemagne from corollas magnus. it comes to his assistance. he returns into this authority, and then some conversation takes place, asked oliver stone to later make a movie about it. have no factual basis but could be entertaining. in which they discuss what to do afterwards and one could imagine oliver stone movie in which the pope says you know, chuck, i'm really grateful for what you have done. is there anything you would like? corollas magnus says no, no. come on. really, something. i always want to be emperor of the world. [laughter] okay. soyuz ground on christmas day, emperor of rome and then

returned to the capital of his empire which has a population a little bit larger than the cato institute. and that is one of the initial ask which will later become the holy roman empire of the german nation. copper gigabit germans have had the translation of imperial power of the roman people to the german people. they have now the roman emperor is a german. and they are claiming the power in germany to invest the bishops with their authority, with their staff and the ring and all the berries things that show that they have authority as bishops. in 1073, a german monk named elder brand becomes pope gregory the seventh. and he proclaims the freedom of the church and he says the pope, the bishop of rome is the one who gets to make that decision,

not the emperor. and they have quite a dispute over this, a crisis. and just a few quick documents to get a feeling for how this worked, there's a document called -- a bit puzzling as to accept what it's status is. it's a list of statements from the pope. the roman church was founded by god, on the he alone can depose or reinstate bishops, et cetera. he may depose emperor's. a little rough. the pope may absolve subjects of unjust men from their -- you to feel for how significant this document is. he is saying that any christian, i can say you don't have to obey this team anymore, this emperor. i've depose him. this is a very powerful claim of

authority. the emperor, henry the fourth of saxony does not take this lying down. he sent a letter to the pope. henry, king not by usurpation but by the pious ordination of god, to hildebrand. do you hear the insult? not to gregory the vii who was hildebrand's, now not pope, but false monk. and then he rebuts all the arguments and it's quite a stir. i'm to be judged by god, alone can and do not to be depose for any crime in less it ever happen i should deviate from the faith. so you might think this is very serious dust up between two big egos, pope, emperor. who is going to win? well, the emperor does have mounted knights, armies,

councils. he can field a great many soldiers. and the pope, the pope has belgian monks, nuns, parish priests. who is going to win? well, it's an interesting story because in 1077 the emperor asked forgiveness of the pope and read mission to the church. now, it's not by the way just because of the force of personality or excommunication. there also was a norman army which happened to be camping nearby. and you may recall that the pope's hat support 1066 a norman claim to the throne of england. and they were pretty good at keeping accounts and they said you all is, and the normans indeed oblige. this is a complicated story but it establishes a very important principle. the power is not full. doesn't feel all the space of a tortured there's a big crack in

it. but later the state and the church and they interpenetrate each other as different sources of authority and law. there's royal law, there's also church law, canon law. these are bodies of law. well, that means that the people like us can play one off against the other. if one is oppressing you, you go to the other for protection. if that window procedure, you go back to the first. and it creates space, if you will, for freedom and these jurisdictional cracks. as opposed to again the statist mentality, the power has to be single, indivisible and absolu absolute. but we see is a political system in which power is fragmented, can be checked, is not absolute, and they interpenetrate each other to another element that goes on at about the same time is the growth of independent

cities in europe, the medieval communes but these are pretty significant. one with economy and american thinker she might think large months of marijuana and barefoot people and so on. that's not what it meant at the time it meant these were common bodies of people who came together to form cities. and here i have a little map of the city of cologne, a map that was a roman city, and it had been largely abandoned as urban civilization disappeared and the northern europe for a variety of reasons. and later its effectively refounded. there was an archbishop there, a lot of cows, that's about it. and the merchants come to the porters, the geekier and begin to set out their wares, tables with things to buy and sell. leather goods and pottery,

clothing and so on. so more customers, the more customers means more attracted to more merchants. more merchants, more variety, more customers. you see the growth of trade again. and they begin to build a palace it around themselves to protect themselves, wouldn't policies. you can go to cologne and visit the archaeological dig. it's very, very interesting right there near the center of town. they later established themselves as a commune, a self-governing body of persons with a social contract. and the slogan of these cities, cda or make you free, after -- [speaking in native tongue] if you can go to the city for a year and a day, you run away from your feudal master, your surf, simply speaking get into the city and you are there for one year and one day going to starbucks to starbucks in the city.

you become a free person to the city and are makes you a three-person. so this is deeply rooted in european culture and civilization. and by the way, it should help us to understand the cruelty, the hatefulness, what was it that the national socialists put over their slave labor camp? work will set you free. and then, of course, they made the and slaves humiliated persons march over the gravestones looted from the jewish cemeteries, and they would go into their death or so this was calling on ancient principle to mock and humiliate people who were being marched off to be enslaved and murdered. but the idea that see the error makes you free, this is the origin of what we call civil society and in english, we have this big will gather because it's a mixture of words from every other language, mainly anglo saxon and norman french, also we pick up words like

pajamas and burrito and the like. we can have, we can hear the origins of this in the english language. civil society, means a city. and civil behavior which means you are respectful to other people. this is a culture of business people. one of the things you learn on your first job when you work for private business is do not kill your customers. [laughter] this is a really important lesson. you wouldn't think that from watching american tv shows were your typical business executive, gets it, has to step me and says god dammit, we are not killing enough of our customers. i want to see action. too many of the personages -- too many of the purchase of our product are surviving. you think hollywood portrays

business activity, that's what business people do all day long. that's after that disposed of the body of the murdered transvestite who they picked up the night before, which if you look at the date of overwhelmingly on television most murders are committed by business executives. don't think that corresponds to the actual criminal justice statistics. [laughter] but in any case, civil behavior is what you learned in business. you are polite to people. you are .co. the our customers. you don't drive him away. that doesn't mean they are your best friend. you don't kiss them, hug them, so on. they are not a family member but you respect them. that is fundamental of business. that is what civil society are about. but then also from the german word, burg, means a fortified place. the scary that people are

outside and we do just by trading in producing are inside the walls where we are safe. and from that you get german -- you get the french word which is a problem that cannot pronounce german words, so they called bourgeois. so bourgeois and bush was it then comes back into english, comes from the burg, and also many american names or british names also. hillsboro, the boroughs of new york, pittsburgh, all of those burg sounding or borough comes from the. and, of course, the first representative of the sibley, the british north american colonies, the house of purchases is a very, very deeply. this is the place where citizens come together to debate. what these represent is a movement from status to contract. sir henry sumner maine, said the movement of the progressive

societies is going from status where your position societies are determined by your birth. you are born a slave. you're bored and aristocratic you are born en masse to you're born into this case. that what you will be. that's what your parents were, their parents, their parents, and that's what your parents will be. that's a suicide as status. a society of contract is one which you create illegal relationships with other persons. it's worth emphasizing, we went over that, that the charter, the cities our social contracts. you will sometimes run into philosophers who will tell you when they talk about social contract, of course this is what hypothetical question, allows us to think more systematically about her series of justice, et cetera, et cetera, but there are no social contracts and there never have been. i've heard that sony times. it's wrong. its historical ignorance. history is full of social contracts in which people agree

to live together according to certain principles. these are fundamentally establishment of economies of europe, the civil society institutions. in many cases people would gather together on one day, all the citizens would hold hands and recite publicly an oath to live by the law, to harm no one, to follow the common laws of the city, and to come to its defen defense. the social contract, taken in public in front of everyone, which is a good way by the way to avoid free rider problems. right? the holdout problem which says let's all come together. the truce of god movement also organized by the church at about the same time brings about a general diminution in random violence, on today's violence in europe by having the parish priests go out, organized the people in the parish and say let's come together, let's all agree not to engage in homicidal mayhem. okay, sometimes. but not on faith state, not on

sundays, can we all agree with that? no stabbings on certain days. okay? and all of you who don't agree, that's cool. would you stand over there? we would like to know who you are. that's a very powerful incentive. airbases okay, it is in on it maybe i will curb my homicidal mayhem. and this does bring about a general diminution, this kind of honor-based mayhem and violence. so that are robust social contracts throughout history. there are also explicit recent charters of privileges and immunities that bind the rumors. the magna carta, one of the most famous ones of 1215. the article 39, no freeman shall be taken in prison, or have to stay taken from, outlawed, banish or in any way destroyed

by we proceed against him or prosecute him, except by the lawful judgment of his peers, or by the law of the land. this is the origin of two important elements of the united states constitution. can be traced back to this. trial by jury, number one, and due process of law. fundamental legal principles in the american colonists and founders immediately founded magna carta, magna carta, magna carta. this is not only british, however. some people think the english are unique in this regard. this is happening all across europe. 1222, very similar elements and even the stronger, the right of resistance, the right to resist the king if the king violates the fundamental rule, the privilege which put many restrictions on the kings power in exchange for the succession to the throne. let me switch over to another

thing happening at about the same time, and he we have theology and moral philosophy. this is the idea of rights, a gay-rights governed legal system. not merely ask in law, but the idea of price. innocent the fourth, about the crusade, asked the question whether you can take from nonbelievers, infidels, their stuff are the political jurisdiction over their lives, just because they are nonbelievers. he said no. possession, mastery of yourself, which comes from latin poorhouse. it is the master of the house, very powerful year of the roman law. master of the house. dominion is master of his own person. possession and jurisdiction can belong to infidels legally and without -- these things are

magnified for the faithful but for every rational creature. as has been said. that principle we know was perhaps establish philosophically but not in principle, terrible crimes took place on both sides of the crusades. enormous amounts of long, violent, and, indeed, the crusader armies, one of the greatest was not antioch or baghdad. it was constantinople is, the greatest christian sitting nearby. there is one very, the mood to sack some and that was closer, so they sacked that. but this principle is been universalized all human beings. two great figures in a classical liberal tradition, francisco david vitoria, who wrote a very important book on the right of the indians, the indigenous population of the americas to spain you to come here,

discovered these puzzling creatures. they walk around, they look like us, they opened their mouths and they say bar bar bar bar. what are the? they ended up immensely. in some cases coercively, converted and the victoria denounce this as a terrible cry. in as much is a person of every indian has free will. and consequent so it is a master of disaster by natural every man has the right to his own life and physical and mental integrity. and then another great figures, also such a with the school, kind of a forerunner of libertarian thinking who devoted his life to defending the indians against this brutal horrific enslavement. he had come to the americas as a young adventurer, alleged to have seen christopher columbus sailed off to america when he

was a boy, imagine the excitement to go to disney world, what he saw there shocked him, and he was converted by a traveling priest who explained what was happening here. the brutality, they expect ocean, the cruelty on these people. and he wrote a book called the devastation of the indies, it is a horrific rate. he talks were human beings hunted from horseback for sport, steered. it was just a tremendous thing for spanish lords to go out and spare some of these people, bring them back and then their bodies hacked to pieces and sold as food for dogs in the butcher shops. he said this cannot be right. it shocked his conscious, and he dedicated his life to defending the indian, and in 1550, in great debate, that god loved manifested itself so strongly,

so beautifully he created an entire continent full of creatures lacking will and desire waiting for the spaniards to fulfill them by giving them purpose, namely, do this, do that, to the other things for me, that their purpose was to be enslaved either spaniard. and he was crushed in the debate. we have the whole side of the debate. he wrote it down and is published. you can get it in english translation, and he hammers to the arguments, and he effectively wins the debate but it's not a mistake that one of his followers who became bishop, more or less southern mexico, guatemala, defended the indians against this brutal enslavement and exploitation, and unsurprisingly that region has a much higher indigenous population and other places where they were wiped out. and there's a wonderful university in the guatemala, worked with the very closely,

great, great university and that a lot of libertarians on their faculty. let's move forward again to the constitutional revolt. one of the great heroic faces, a truly heroic people are the dutch. the dutch in their revolt against their spanish overlords to fill up the second receive the netherlands from his father, emperor charles the fifth, we came of age. today, if you do really well in high school graduate from college you might get a motorcycle or something, then you got the netherlands. [laughter] and he was resolved to modernize them because the dutch were back with her daddy's little little talking shops. all the time they were backward, they kept insisting they had to be asked for their consent before you get taxed and them. like how crazy is that. all kinds of backwardness. and they brought all these old documents and charters all the time. we will modernize you.

we're going to impose a new 10% wealth tax, and the dutch revolted, and on their battles like they could a penny, very robust obscene gesture to the king, to put a penny on your battle flag. and stood up for the rights. and they defeat the spanish after a very, very long protracted battle. really the greatest empire in europe at the time. and they create the first modern middle-class society, a society that initiates religious toleration, that people have said it's not possible to have people of different religions living in the same country. you can't do that. no one will know how to pray, and less the king tells you. and experiment. they say, it turns out people can pray without being told to by the king. and you can have all of these different religious groups living side by side. but then it takes, beautiful

statement of his life in amsterdam. it's a gorgeous statement of why he loved amsterdam. because everyone was equal before the law, and no one asked what your religion was. when they were going to do business with you or became before the courts. he said that's why amsterdam was such a great city. and this create a very powerful model of constitutionally limited government, accountable government. religious toleration, low taxes, relatively freedom of trade. i don't want to over romanticize. it was not perfect, but it established something remarkab remarkable. and a middle-class society that invents all kinds of things we take for granted today. like having a home, having furniture of your own that you get to pick out. for your own home. that this is available to ordinary people, not only the great lords living in the castles. huge innovation. across the channel the english

are starting to get this absolutist disease after 1603, when james the sixth of scotland becomes james the first of england, he says we're going to modernize you. all kinds of taxes. were not interested in your considered i am above the law. and english say, i don't think so. and the struggle against the. one of the great figures here, sir edward coke, that the law is free, not merely the will of the king. subsequent to this you get the english civil war, the first real libertarians who are full throated, honest to god libertarians to become to be known as the levelers. they wanted to level everyone before the law. they are sometimes confused for a variety of reasons with conyers. there's a rock band and they are communists.

so there's a bit of a confusion there. there was another group who are communists who said no, no. we are the true levelers. and this has led to some intellectual confusion. the one called the levelers were very, very strong libertarians but they believed in the right to property, freedom of trade, absolute freedom of religion. they believe women have equal rights. they were when levelers. this in raged and inflamed their opponents. they were so radical, so extreme in their libertarianism, this cutting edge stuff, they thought even irish people have rights. [laughter] and refused to invade ireland when oliver cromwell ordered the army, these units have many levelers who are active in the army, all volunteer army replacing previous kinds of army. he said and they'd ireland and they said no, we will not do it. you cannot force us to commit an

unjust act. if you go to the village in england with the church there, there's a beautiful temple of liberty, and you can see the work that they carried out. they were executed. because they said you cannot make us commit an injustice. we will not do it. and so they were shot instead. on the back to the back to haunt you can see scratched in anthony sedley, prisoner, and the date when he was imprisoned in the church. john lilburn, one of the of the great leveler leaders, his wife, elizabeth, also an active leveler, and his statement here when he died, in her arms, i shall leave this testimony behind me that i died for the laws and liberty of this nation. and we all doing the right, right to trial by jury, and the abolitionist seek a trial, he refused to accept the jurisdiction of the chamber

over. he said absolutely not. these are very tough, difficult argument to people and we owe them a great deal. john block and the radical breeze carried out much of the leveler program. to focus on property and understood in this wider sense life, liberty and a state, not just a state. he had many leveler writings in his library. he doesn't quote them, not surprisingly, many of them were executed. you don't normally go quoting people who were hanged for their views. but he did have many leveler pamphlets, and the language is remarkably parallel, but also note locke did not acknowledge the authorship of the two treaties in his lifetime. there's the letter, i think to his nephew recommending them as some of the best books written on political science, but he did not explicitly acknowledge that he was the author. i'll skip ahead to just a few other important figures.

turco was a great finance minister in france. he was dismissed because of the medicine nations of marie antoinette. he wanted to reform the french kenya, eliminate many of the crazy taxes, our respect in decisions on people, the cruelty of the mercantile system, people broken on the rack for not having sold the improved kinds of goods in the marketplace. he abolished forced labor, and substituted taxes for. by the way i'm not a big fan of taxes, but i think substituting tax for compulsory labor was an advance in human liberty. instead of being whipped and beaten to go out and build roads, they would say a tax on and we will hire people who are not whipped and beaten to build the road. win, win, win, all over. so norman i'm not happy with taxes but it was a step forward for liberty to substitute taxes

for compulsory labor. and he was a good friend of the american colonists and they declared their independence. his famous letter, reduce the smallest number the kinds of fair to watch the government of each state should take charge, very wise advice. the americans founded their country that was predicated on equal basic rights, the declaration of independence is one of the most important documents really of the last 2000 years. all men are created equal. they are endowed by the grid with certain unalienable rights, that among these i teach courses of this, i am certain, every single word matters, among these, it does not say these are, suggest you have more, life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. in doing so, they were to just conjuring up some things, famous letter from thomas jefferson to henry lee about the writing of the declaration, i recognize this is about 50 years later, but he said it was not by new

principal or new arguments never before thought of ordinary married to say things that no been said before but to place before mankind the common sense of the subject. interim so plain and firm as commander and justify ourselves it we are compelled to take. neither aiming at originality of sentiment nor yet copied from any particular and previous writing, it was intended to be an expression of the american mind. and to get to that expression a proper tone and spirit called for by the location. what's remarkable here is he acknowledges they are building on this previous entire history. this was the common sense of the subject. it was articulated so beautifully and poetically in the declaration of independence. finally, let me conclude with a few comments. many people confuse the american revolution with the war for independence. but the people who were involved sal those as two different

things. john advance in his letter to thomas jefferson, what do we mean by the revolution, the war? that was no part of the revolution. it was only an effect and consequence of it. the revolution was in the minds of the people. this was effected from 1760-1775, in the course of 15 years before a drop of blood was shed at lexington. the pamphlets, newspapers of all the colonies ought to be consulted during that period to ascertain the steps by which the public opinion was enlightened and informed consent the authority of parliament over the colony. so the revolution was the process by which the public opinion was enlightened. not the war which was merely a consequence of that. those principles are then articulated even further, strike at the root of one of the most horrible institutions of the american continent, which was chattel slavery. frederick douglass, one of the great libertarians of history,

challenged people. he said what does the declaration of independence mean to me and people like me? it makes a promise, all men are created equal, and yet this has been withheld from us. so extreme a powerful presentation. he was a great libertarian. by the way there's a brand-new book which just came out by a participant at cato university from some years ago who dedicated his doctoral dissertation research to the political thought of frederick douglass. you heard lectures on frederick douglass. now we have the best book ever written on frederick douglass, political thought, just came out last month. i'm reading it now. so he was a very important figure but he took these libertarian ideas and wanted equal rights for every human being. liberals incensed that are libertarians and struggled for free trade and international peace, just a few of the great heroes who fought valiantly to restrain the ability to wage

war. they thought that free trade was the key, and they helped to usher in really a new civilization based on trade rather than conquest and plunder. let me wrap up with something that is perhaps less optimistic, and this is against this question of this history always go in some direction. the tide turns. later, 19th, early 20th century liberalism is replaced by collective ideology. nationalism, imperialism, socialism, fascism, communism, that push liberalism. in an essay published in 1900 in the nation at the time, a very libertarian publication said nationalism, the sense of national creed is the plant of liberalism. at an old foe under a new name. and this chilling passage.

the old fallacy of divine right as one -- wants more assertive issue in his pocket and before it again is reputed there must the international struggles on a terrific scale. so he understood. and a few other liberal times, namely old people knew what the 20th century was going to bring. murder, bloodshed, on a scale never ever seen before. so some of these figures who were exterminated, millions and millions and millions of lives. i think you know all of them. he did not kill as many of the others but it was a higher percentage of the population over which he had control. so the 20 century was steep in blood. there were people who struggle against it. maintain our ideas.

these young people were beheaded. sorry. for telling the truth. in germany. the members of the white rose, astonishing figures, such courageous people, and sakharov here and the suffering he underwent to tell the truth about the soviet union and the horrific murders that have taken place under these regimes. fortunately, though there was a rebirth of liberalism. these are some of the heroic figures who began to recover these principles, isabel paterson, ayn rand, milton friedman, president of the town

republic, lupica erhardt, i finance that in germany who libertarian tradition and were able to protect liberty as a consequence that these are truly heroic figures. we all so much, but i should point out that eternal vigilance is something we have to always, always remember. and i will mention, i will bring up your, you never want a serious crisis to go to waste. what i mean by that is an opportunity to do things that you think you could not do before. step we should remember that current mayor of chicago, former leading advice to present obama before the member of congress, warning us very clearly on television that every crisis is an opportunity for them to reassert absolute power for the rest of us. and that is why we have the cato institute. [applause]

we will take just two questions, because having gone over about 4800 years of history, spoken for a while so we have just two quick questions. does anyone want to post anything before we go to the break? >> you touched on the right speedy speak up a little bit more. >> i'm sorry. you touched on property and the concept of rights earlier. you mentioned the rocky mountains and various rights to just the messenger i guess you of it into the idea of externalities, and a very specific what they're doing the receptacle nature of externalities that have been and scholarships, especially from natural law theorists that he had a run. -- had it wrong. i wonder what you think about that going for because it does

distinguish as opposed to the way we set up the legal rights that we are saying you have a natural right to your person, and you don't have a right to go and invade, to land-use or whatever. >> if i can sum up very quickly because public it is like a question or question, take the case of a railroad going to and be making a spark. do they have the right to emit sparks to people who might get brushfires, have an obligation to put up a fence to stop that? or is it the case that you are right not to have sparks put on you? onto your lead. we can imagine all kinds of other cases where there's some external impact. it's not clear where the right false. and i think he was right on this but i don't think we can just get used, except for cases of your body integrity, but for other kinds of complex right in buildings and industrial

processes and land and so on. it's just not obvious, whether i should build a fence to keep out the cows, or you should build a fence to keep the cows in. this is not an obvious question. and what he focuses on though was how important it is that there be some determination, subsequent to which people can -- the position that maximizes the value of a. so having well-defined and legally secure property rights is the key. people within negotiate to whatever solution that they want, so-called coast there them. but i don't think that we can just into it within of it as a mentor, where the rights should fall. you see different legal system that calls this the one and that would definitely matter. that's fundamentally his point. it's a bit like we drive on the right side or the left side. it doesn't matter so long as everyone does the same thing.

in the road system. and they'll be able to coordinate one side, et cetera. next question for a quick stint as a matter of opinion, of all the living movements that you mentioned throughout history, which do you think has been the most important in the whole movement, and shaping liberty as it is understood today? >> that isn't an answerable question. spent what is your opinion? >> i will mention this, and i think that john locke is one of the most important figures for understanding almost everything about liberty. not say i agree with him on everything by no means, but he really did think about these questions about social order, about justice, about rights, about cooperation and so one in a systematic way, and he tried in the two treaties, the first treaties is mainly a reputation of absolutism, particularly dumb

argument, which is that god gave the world to adam, adam being an englishman, gave it to his eldest son, who gave it to his eldest son and so on, down to the current king of england was absolute supreme power. and locke as you can imagine beach this argument to death. but the second treaties focus is on his positive theory of the legitimate authority of government, what it is authorized to do and what its limits are. i think this is an exceptionally rich book so i highly recommend reading it very carefully, and then going back and look at some of the other debates and arguments at the time. it's an extreme significant period. the last thing i would mention is there are some people who don't get enough attention in the circle of liberty. ..

>> and it would not be allowed to continue. and one of the young people walking beside me said, major, give us a moment, and you'll live free. and the major said, troopers, advance.

>> across that bridge. author and congressman john lewis, sunday at 8 on c-span's q&a. >> we did not begin as a city in kentucky. there was only a vague native american region and later a county and another state called kentucky. but we began in 1778 as louis v, virginia. >> this weekend join booktv, american history tv and c-span's local content vehicles from louisville, kentucky. saturday at noon eastern, literary life on c-span2. john david dike and author jason gainus on rebooting american politics, and sunday at 5 p.m. eastern on american history tv, three weeks at farmington plantation in 1841 would be key in shaping abraham lincoln's views on slavery. tour that plantation today.

also, the heydey of the steam boat on the ohio river. take a look back on the belle of louisville. once a month c-span's local content vehicles explore the history and literary life of cities across america, this weekend from louisville on c-span2 and 3. >> health and human services secretary kathleen sebelius joined a number of senate democrats to promote new women's health provisions that go into effect tomorrow. the new coverage provisions require insurance companies to offer certain preventive care services without additional co-pays. including annual breast exams, prenatal care and contraception. this is an hour. >> we've got our team? everybody here? well, good morning, everybody. i, first of all, want to start by thanking senator mikulski for

organizing this announcement today and for inviting me to join these wonderful senate leaders and a consumer from ohio, um, to talk about women's health. the leaders i'm with today have been such strong advocates for women and their health for decades, and i'm really pleased to join them. today is, um, we're here to mark a new day for women's health in america. starting tomorrow thanks to the new health care law, all insurance policies will be required to cover new, vital care that women need to stay healthy. and they'll have to cover the care without charging women anything out of pocket. now, as women we're likely to be the health care decision makers in our families, keeping our children up-to-date on checkups, urging our spouses to take care of themselves, helping an elderly parent stay on medication or find the extra

money in the family budget to pay for health insurance. but too often we put our own health last, and that's especially true when it comes to preventive care, the regular checkups and screenings that are so important to staying healthy but can be too easy to put off. and what makes it worse is that before the health care law many insurers didn't even cover basic women's care. other health care plans charged such high co-payments that they discourage many women from getting basic preventive services. so as a result, surveys show that more than half of the women in this country delayed or avoided preventive care because of its cost. and that's simply not right, and it's not good for our country. but thanks to the health care law, it's about to change. thanks to the new law, new private plans and medicare have already begun covering potentially life-saving tests

and care for men and women such as cholesterol screenings and flu shots with no co-pay. and beginning tomorrow, all new insurance plans will be required to cover additional services and tests for women with no out-of-pocket costs, including domestic violence screenings, fda-approved contraception, breast-feeding counseling and supplies and a well woman visit where she can sit down and talk with her health care provider. according to a report released today by our department, approximately 47 women in america will soon be eligible to receive this vital care with no co-pay. now, no woman should have to the choose between seeing her doctor and putting food on the table for her family, and now many women won't have to make that difficult choice any longer. it's important to know that soon women will see even more protections thanks to the new health care law. starting in 2014, it will be

illegal for companies to deny someone coverage because they're a breast cancer survivor or pregnant or a victim of domestic violence. and it will also be illegal, finally in america, to charge women more than men just because they're women. in other words, being a woman will no longer be a pre-existing condition in this country. now, for too long insurance companies have stacked the deck against women, forcing us to pay more for coverage that didn't meet our needs. and thanks to the affordable care act, a new day for women's health has finally arrived. and now i'd like to turn over the podium to senator mikulski who not only has been an incredible champion for women's health, but is queen of women in congress. senator mikulski. >> thank you very much, madam secretary. >> well done.

>> good morning, everybody. >> morning. >> what a happy day. tomorrow, august 1st, will be an opportunity for women who in need of preventive health care services will be able to take a giant step forward to have access to the care they need without the barrier of cost or discrimination. tomorrow, august 4th. put this down on your calendar. women will be able to have access to essential preventive services that will provide early detection and screening for those situations where they're most at risk and also provide opportunities to care and services that they need as wives and mothers. this is called the women's preventive health care amendment. now, during the health care debate we wanted to do two things.

we wanted to be able to save lives and save money. we knew that prevent i have health care was -- preventive health care was an essential cornerstone to that. early detection means early detection and screening provides the kind of information where we know problem before it spreads to a lethal nature. one of the most important tools we women have is mammograms, but in the midst of the health care debate they wanted to take our mammograms away from us. well, hey -- [laughter] not while i'm here. [laughter] and what did we do? we organized with senator harkin leading the -- and senator dodd leelding our committee -- leading our committee, working with the good women and men who supported us. i was able to bring to the floor the preventive women's health care amendment. we suited up, we put on our

lipstick, and we were able to pass this legislation. and what does it mean in -- what does it mean? it means that we will be able to have access to those early detection and screening things for breast cancer, colo rectal cancer, lung cancer, all of those dreaded c words that we're terrified of where we know that when a woman gets the disease, it not only effects her, but the entire family. but we in congress did not want to write the benefit, we wanted to turn to a learned society like the institute of medicine to say what were the essential services. and that's why they came up with the annual checkup, the breast-feeding support, the domestic violence screening as well as access to contraception. what we now will be able to do that the top pillars of -- top

killers of women will no longer go undetected. the kind of support systems we need to be healthy, to be good mothers and to be able to have our family life, we'll be able to do it. and we eliminate the barriers to care. the most important was cost because often women did not seek that because of the co-pays and the deductibles. the second was the very attitude of insurance companies that charge women more, and we got less. well, we've eliminated those barriers. we've eliminated those benefits. and on august 1st women all over america will be able to have access to care that they've had to fight for for so long. i'm so grateful that we could pass the affordable care act, that we had the support of the leadership, that this wasn't only a woman's issue, it was a family's issue. yes, we women often brought it to the attention, but we had the

support of fantastic men, and one of the great champions here has been senator tom harkin. when he was one of the prime movers in the health care, the affordable health care act. he is one of the prime movers in the whole conceptover prevention and wellness -- concept of prevention and wellness will both save lives and money. and he's been a great champion for we women, proving the fact that men of quality never are shy about supporting women who seek equality. let me bring up our good friend and our champion, senator tom harkin. [laughter] >> boy, is it tough to follow barbara mikulski. [laughter] first of all, thank you, secretary sebelius, again, for your dynamic leadership at the department of health and human services. and, again, i can't thank enough barbara mikulski, senator mikulski. we teamed up together.

senator kennedy asked each of us to head certain parts of the health care reform bill. we worked together very closely to put this all together, and while we worked very hard to put together a strong preventive package that includes everyone -- because we wanted to change the sick care system to a health care system, one where people could get early checkups and prevent an illness from progressing. a lot of that went into effect a couple years ago under the preventive services -- preventive services health task force recommendations, but that covered everyone. what we're talking about that goes into effect tomorrow are the recommendations of the institute of medicine that pertain particularly to women. and that was what barbara mikulski championed so hard and brought to the senate, was this focus. this focus that because women -- do i need to state the obvious?

-- are different than men. and certain health requirements for women are different than men. and so we asked the institute of medicine to come up with a list of preventive services that ought to be included in this package. they did. that's what starts tomorrow. so tomorrow 47 million american women will now be able to get preventive services that they could not get before at no cost, no co-pays, no deductibles. they'll be able to go in and get a well woman visit annually as a checkup. i know we focus a lot on breast cancer and other cancer screenings, and i will return to that in just a second. but there's a lot of other things too. detecting things early whether it's asthma or diabetes or a whole host of other things that women need to have a well woman visit every year. so that will start tomorrow. 47 million american women,

59,000 in my state of iowa -- 519,000 in my state of iowa will have these preventive services available to them. so we fought very hard to include these. senator mikulski's begin me a lot of plaid kits, but we would never have been able to do it without her leadership. she focused like a laser on this issue of making sure that women had all of these preventive services available. it's i guess if i had one regret, it'd be only that it took us two years to get here, but better late than never, senator mikulski, so tomorrow is a new day. on a more personal note, i lost both my sisters to breast cancer, my only two sisters. at a fairly young age. when my older sister, mary ann, died and we went to her funeral, her younger sister, sylvia, was

there and had no idea that she also had breast cancer. within two years she was dead also, and they left young families. they lived in rural areas, small towns. they didn't have any money. they didn't really have health care coverage. for them to go to get a checkup would have cost money. money that they could ill afford at that time. they had a number of kids. and as i said, they didn't have a lot of money. they didn't have health care benefits. it would have been different if they could have had this available to them. early checkups, early screenings. but for both of them it was way too late by the time they discovered it. so the this this is a very personal, poignant meaning to me. and i just hope that women in this country now will take

advantage of this. and will now go and get those annual screenings and get those checkups. early detection, early detection we know works, and millions of lives can be saved. and as senator mikulski said, families, families will not have to lose a parent or a sister because of breast cancer or curve call cancer -- cervical cancer, all the others. so when i hear republicans say, and they still say that they want to repeal this and they want to take this away from women, i stand with senator mikulski. not as long as we're here. [laughter] senator landrieu. >> thank you, senator harkin, for your extraordinary leadership and your willingness to share such a personal and moving story to underscore the importance of today, and i thank senator mikulski for her

tireless leadership and enthusiastic leadership in continuing to fight hard for this amendment which was adopted. and secretary sebelius for leading the nation at a really transformational moment for all of us. the goal of the affordable health care act is to help our nation to become healthy, more healthy. and in being more healthy, we can be a more prosperous, economically-vital nation. it is a blessing when the citizens are healthy, and it's truly a blessing when the women of a nation are healthy. and the mothers of of a nation are healthy. because as senator mikulski pointed out and secretary sebelius, women are the primary caregivers of the nation. so the healthier the caregivers are, the better the nation is going to be. it makes so much sense, it's a shame that this was all illegal until today. and so with this legislation,

with this government, um, requirement which is important, a partnership with insurance companies, women will be able to get the care they need to stay healthy. tom, your sisters, to raise their children themselves. the cost of having mothers healthy, to be able to raise their children as opposed transferring some of that burden to the society or the town or the community are enormous. for louisiana, the state that i represent, over 600,000 women, senator mikulski, tomorrow with private insurance -- not women on medicare, not women on medicaid which will benefit as well, but 600,000 women with private insurance -- will be able to access these services to keep themselves healthy and well. women that are working minimum wage jobs or women that show up at the highest levels of some of the largest companies in louisiana at the corporate level. so this is truly an amazing day.

it would not have happened without senator mikulski's leadership and senator harkin. we're all grateful, so let's keep our women and our mothers healthy. thank you, and senator lautenberg. >> thanks, senator landrieu. we, i'm pleased to be here with colleagues who have the guts to stand up and fight the battle that women deserve, and that is reasonably good health care. and led by barbara mikulski who always surprises us with her leadership, her dynamism, her tenacity and all of the things that resulted in where we stand on this health care bill right now. can you imagine what would have happened just february when one of our colleagues in the senate decided to bring up an amendment that would strike the women's

health care section of the reform bill? now, what would have happened if at the same time a woman came in there and said, you know what? i think we ought to stop prostate screening for men. what do you think would happen in this place, tom? [laughter] we might get a response to that. the fact of the matter is that there's a maleogarchy that's trying to decide what women ought to be doing for themselves and for their families. well, now there's a chief honcho, as you know, of the maleogarchy group, his name is romney, and he's resolved to repeal health care the first day, to start repealing it the first day that he has office. well, we're saying too bad. you don't know barbara mikulski and her following. all of us salute when she comes

in the room because she deserves our respect, our affection and our thanks. i have five daughters, five daughters and six granddaughters. and i want them to keep their mitts off my kids and off my grandchildren. simple as that. we'll continue to fight the fight led by barbara mikulski, led by secretary sebelius and my other colleagues here. be ready. tell those guys on the other side, tomorrow is a new dawn coming, and we're going to keep on shining a light on that. thank you very much. [inaudible conversations] >> first, let me tell you on behalf of the people of maryland that i have the horn of representing -- the honor of representing, the over one million women who benefit from today's announcement in my state, we're proud that we have sent to the united states senate one of the great leaders on gender equity issues in america in senator barbara mikulski.

she has been a leader throughout her career on gender equity issues whether it is fairness with the lily ledbetter act or the preventive health care in the affordable care act. senator mikulski, we thank you on behalf of a grateful nation. the progress ha we've made to close the gap -- that we've made to close the gap on fairness and equality in the our health care system. and i want to thank secretary sebelius and president obama for taking on the health care crisis in america and the passage of the affordable care act. our whole nation benefits from it. the fact that at long last health care's a right, not a privilege. but it's particularly important for women because more women are uninsured, more women have been discriminated against in our health care system, and the provisions of of the affordable care act help to close the gap in fairness in america on health care. secretary sebelius already mentioned some of the provisions that have taken effect. we already have no limits on

lifetime caps which affected women more than men, and by 2014 the annual cap will be gone on our insurance policies. we've talked about the pre-existing conditions for children already in effect by 2014. women who have been discriminated against are really the poster children for why we needed to eliminate pre-existing conditions. that will end in 2014. higher premiums charged to women just because they're women, that will end. but on august 1st, tomorrow, there are new provisions that take effect. i just want to highlight one very quickly, the premium rebates. so insurance comp to give value for the premium dollar. that takes effect on august 1st. once again, wore going to benefit from that provision. i am particularly proud of the preventive health services that you've heard about. senator mikulski was responsible for the amendment ha we put into

law, the fact that the institute of medicine would do a study as to what preventive services are needed for women. and it's their report and recommendation that we're now implementing tomorrow that will give women the preventive health care services they need without co-payment. this is an important day as we continue to make progress in america to provide quality, affordable health care to all the people of the nation, and i'm proud to be on senator mikulski's team. with that, let me introduce senator shaheen. >> thank you. tomorrow, august 1st, is a great day for women and families in this country. because tomorrow the provisions of the affordable care act that are so important to women go into effect. and i want to thank senator mikulski, senator harkin and all my colleagues here for the work that they put in to making the

affordable care act and these provisions the law. the data is very clear: these provisions, as senator harkin said so eloquently, will save lives. now, opponents may not want to pay for those, but the reality is that because these provisions are going to go into effect tomorrow, that women will be better off, their families will be better off, and as we look at the underlying costs of health care in the system, we will be more cost effective with these provisions. is so it is a great day for women and families. >> i am really proud to follow senator shaheen and to stand today with some of the giants in the senate, and i agree with everything that has been said except i think frank lautenberg said he was, i think he used the word "surprised" by senator mikulski's tenacity and

tirelessness. and as someone whom i have really come to admire, i'm not surprised, but admiring. and there are two giants who are not with us today who stood strong and tall, senator kennedy and senator dodd. and i am very honored to follow senator dodd as the senator from connecticut whose citizens, 270,000 of them, will benefit tomorrow. they will see this new day and new dawn, and it will be a great day for america because it combines equality and quality. it saves lives. but it also saves dollars for anyone who may be impervious to the life-savingfect of this measure, let's talk about dollars. prevention is and detection save resources and expenses, and they will drive down costs as we must

do in our health care delivery system. so we're talking here about diabetes screening, cancer screening, basic health screening that means detecting and stopping disease before its costs spiral astronomically out of control. and that's a great day for all americans. it's a great day for families because when a mom or sister gets sick, the entire family suffers. it is a great day for our health care delivery system, and i think it's a historic day for america because we are saying here today we will not retreat, we will not repeal, we will not reject a step in the right direction showing washington can get things done. we can break this gridlock, we can move forward. and i want to thank my colleagues for their great leadership and introduce someone who has been a champion of

health care, senator brown. >> thank you, senator blumenthal. there have been a number of heroes in this country, some well known, some not so well known fighting for gender equity. barbara mikulski, nobody's done it longer and better than she has. i was in columbus two days ago with lily ledbetter, someone who stepped up and because of her fight women around this country, especially lower income women, are making more money than they would have otherwise and actually earning what they ought to earn. because of her efforts. and i will be introducing in a moment another hero in the fight for equity, for gender equity and fight for health care for women, ann craich, from holland, ohio, in a moment. about a year and a half ago i was in ann's hometown of toledo, and we announced as people across the country announced the