Scottish Invention of America, Democracy and Human Rights

Rating:
Summary: Let man learn liberty from lashing wave and crashing sea!
Review: Sing Oh, let man learn liberty from lashing wave and crashing sea". So sang
a Gaelic bard who did not feel that he needed to be "taught" liberty by
England's heavy hand and long range guns. Did liberty and representative
government exist apart from the Greeks and Romans? There is a great
prejudice called Anglocentrism or Romanocentrism that admires the
English-speaking people and the Romans so well that one is inclined to
credit them with the invention of limited government, rule of law and
justice itself. Most words having to do with government after all are
Latinate in origin and over the last five hundred years the English-speaking
people have been the most successful in developing democratic governments.
.".Yet in the shadows of the great English, and Roman empires lived the
Celts. Many historians claim that nationalism was born of the French
Revolution or that consent of the governed began with Locke and the English
bill of Rights. Robert John Munro and Alexander Klieforth explore the THE SCOTTISH INVENTION OF
AMERICA, DEMOCRACY AND HUMAN RIGHTS. This is an ambitious history of
liberty from 1300 BC to 2004 AD that traces the philosophy and fight for
freedom from the ancient Celts to the medieval Scots to the Scottish
Enlightenment to the creation of America. The authors' work contends that the
roots of liberty originated in the radical political thought ofthe ancient
Celts, the Scots' struggles for freedom, John Duns Scotus and the Arbroath
Declaration (1320).
Coke was certainly right that the trial by jury -unknown to Roman law- was a
native British invention (Saxon? Norman? British?) Coke also believed that the
Magna Carta was a confirmation of the fundamental rights belonging to all
Englishmen FROM TIME IMMEMORIAL. Coke became the champion of common law
against the encroachments of the royal prerogative and declared null and
void royal proclamations that were contrary to the common law and the
"traditional rights of Englishmen". Robert Munro and Alexander Klieforth go further: many traditional
"natural rights" may in fact have their origins in the Celtic realm and in
medieval Celtic speaking scholars such as Duns Scotus. As Munro says "The
Celtic high regard for democracy and human rights premeated every aspect of
their culture and society."
Munro makes it clear that this is a tradition traceable through the writings
of Scots Mair, Buchanan, Knox and Hutcheson and a tradition that influenced
Locke and the English Whig theorists and our Founding Fathers, particularly
Jefferson, Madison, Wilson and Witherspoon. Thus, the work is a
revolutionary alternative to the traditional Anglocentric view that freedom,
democracy and human rights descended only from John Locke and England of the
1600s. Of course this Anglocentric view was in part a reaction to the
effacing of early American nationalists of its English heritage. We stopped
drinking tea and as Cathrine Drinker Bowen wrote we swept "our prideful arm
over the blackboard " and erased " all previous national history."
Klieforth and Munro's work is the first historical analysis to locate and document the
origin of the doctrine of the "consent of the governed" in the medieval
scholar, Duns Scotus (c.1290s), four centuries before Locke and the English
Whigs and in the evolutionary progress of mankind. The work contends that
the Arbroath Declaration (1320) and its philosophy was the intellectual

foundation of the American Revolution and the Declaration of Independence
(1776). After showing the Scottish influence on the U.S. Constitution, Bill
of Rights and the new Federal government, the Braudelian-style work traces
the development of Scottish-style freedom and human rights through the
French Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen which
Jefferson influenced, Lincoln's Gettysburg Address which transformed
Jefferson's Declaration and Eleanor Roosevelt's role in creating the
U.N. Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the foundation of the modern
human rights struggle." This is a well researched book. I particularly
liked the authors' quotation of the original Latin documentary source material
and his use of scholars such as Peter Ellis who are knowledgeable of Celtic
languages and traditions.

Rating:
Summary: Let man learn liberty from lashing wave and crashing sea!
Review: Sing Oh, let man learn liberty from lashing wave and crashing sea". So sang
a Gaelic bard who did not feel that he needed to be "taught" liberty by
England's heavy hand and long range guns. Did liberty and representative
government exist apart from the Greeks and Romans? There is a great
prejudice called Anglocentrism or Romanocentrism that admires the
English-speaking people and the Romans so well that one is inclined to
credit them with the invention of limited government, rule of law and
justice itself. Most words having to do with government after all are
Latinate in origin and over the last five hundred years the English-speaking
people have been the most successful in developing democratic governments.
.".Yet in the shadows of the great English, and Roman empires lived the
Celts. Many historians claim that nationalism was born of the French
Revolution or that consent of the governed began with Locke and the English
bill of Rights. Robert John Munro and Alexander Klieforth explore the THE SCOTTISH INVENTION OF
AMERICA, DEMOCRACY AND HUMAN RIGHTS. This is an ambitious history of
liberty from 1300 BC to 2004 AD that traces the philosophy and fight for
freedom from the ancient Celts to the medieval Scots to the Scottish
Enlightenment to the creation of America. The authors' work contends that the
roots of liberty originated in the radical political thought ofthe ancient
Celts, the Scots' struggles for freedom, John Duns Scotus and the Arbroath
Declaration (1320).
Coke was certainly right that the trial by jury -unknown to Roman law- was a
native British invention (Saxon? Norman? British?) Coke also believed that the
Magna Carta was a confirmation of the fundamental rights belonging to all
Englishmen FROM TIME IMMEMORIAL. Coke became the champion of common law
against the encroachments of the royal prerogative and declared null and
void royal proclamations that were contrary to the common law and the
"traditional rights of Englishmen". Robert Munro and Alexander Klieforth go further: many traditional
"natural rights" may in fact have their origins in the Celtic realm and in
medieval Celtic speaking scholars such as Duns Scotus. As Munro says "The
Celtic high regard for democracy and human rights premeated every aspect of
their culture and society."
Munro makes it clear that this is a tradition traceable through the writings
of Scots Mair, Buchanan, Knox and Hutcheson and a tradition that influenced
Locke and the English Whig theorists and our Founding Fathers, particularly
Jefferson, Madison, Wilson and Witherspoon. Thus, the work is a
revolutionary alternative to the traditional Anglocentric view that freedom,
democracy and human rights descended only from John Locke and England of the
1600s. Of course this Anglocentric view was in part a reaction to the
effacing of early American nationalists of its English heritage. We stopped
drinking tea and as Cathrine Drinker Bowen wrote we swept "our prideful arm
over the blackboard " and erased " all previous national history."
Klieforth and Munro's work is the first historical analysis to locate and document the
origin of the doctrine of the "consent of the governed" in the medieval
scholar, Duns Scotus (c.1290s), four centuries before Locke and the English
Whigs and in the evolutionary progress of mankind. The work contends that
the Arbroath Declaration (1320) and its philosophy was the intellectual

foundation of the American Revolution and the Declaration of Independence
(1776). After showing the Scottish influence on the U.S. Constitution, Bill
of Rights and the new Federal government, the Braudelian-style work traces
the development of Scottish-style freedom and human rights through the
French Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen which
Jefferson influenced, Lincoln's Gettysburg Address which transformed
Jefferson's Declaration and Eleanor Roosevelt's role in creating the
U.N. Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the foundation of the modern
human rights struggle." This is a well researched book. I particularly
liked the authors' quotation of the original Latin documentary source material
and his use of scholars such as Peter Ellis who are knowledgeable of Celtic
languages and traditions.

Rating:
Summary: The Scottish Factor and the Idea of Freedom
Review: The work of Alexander L. Klieforth and Robert J. Munro in "The Scottish Invention of America" is a fascinating and important account of the role played by Scottish political theorists in the development of what would later be understood as classical liberalism. This is a monograph worth studying for several reasons. It is, simultaneously, an analysis of early Scottish notions of individual freedom, limited centralized politcal power, and the idea of "consent" which will later come to play such a pivotal role in the writings of such English theorists as John Locke. The reference to Locke brings me to the other level of analysis in this book that makes its scholarly worth all the more obvious. Klieforth and Munro make a persuasive argument that the long-established assumption that English theorists such as Locke play an almost exclusive role in the formation of classical liberal thought is one that is, to put it mildly, ahistorical. They provide convincing and consistent evidence that classical liberalism, typically linked with such theorists as Locke and Thomas Hobbes, have, in reality, a Scottish background that is all too often overlooked. All those interested in the intellectual history of democracy in general, and the development of "consent" in particular, will find this book to be both important and indispensable. This is a monograph destined to be an integral part of the historiography of Western liberalsim, notions of democracy, and the role of individual freedom.

Rating:
Summary: The Scottish Factor and the Idea of Freedom
Review: The work of Alexander L. Klieforth and Robert J. Munro in "The Scottish Invention of America" is a fascinating and important account of the role played by Scottish political theorists in the development of what would later be understood as classical liberalism. This is a monograph worth studying for several reasons. It is, simultaneously, an analysis of early Scottish notions of individual freedom, limited centralized politcal power, and the idea of "consent" which will later come to play such a pivotal role in the writings of such English theorists as John Locke. The reference to Locke brings me to the other level of analysis in this book that makes its scholarly worth all the more obvious. Klieforth and Munro make a persuasive argument that the long-established assumption that English theorists such as Locke play an almost exclusive role in the formation of classical liberal thought is one that is, to put it mildly, ahistorical. They provide convincing and consistent evidence that classical liberalism, typically linked with such theorists as Locke and Thomas Hobbes, have, in reality, a Scottish background that is all too often overlooked. All those interested in the intellectual history of democracy in general, and the development of "consent" in particular, will find this book to be both important and indispensable. This is a monograph destined to be an integral part of the historiography of Western liberalsim, notions of democracy, and the role of individual freedom.

Rating:
Summary: The Scottish Invention of America, Democracy & Human Rights
Review: This is a book about the birth & history of liberty & freedom from a Scottish viewpoint. Without blowing bagpipes or waving their tartans, the authors set out to prove that democracy & human rights had their roots in Scotland. The case is well made. The authors exhaustively review the impact of the Scots in these two areas. The book begins in 1300 BC and brings us up to 2004.

The authors present strong and compelling proof that the roots of liberty & the struggles for freedom, for individuals and nations, date back to the ancient Celts, followed by the Scottish struggle for independence. The radical political thought
had only been hinted at until the Scots were willing to walk the talk. Less talk, more walk is what you get in The Scottish Invention of America.

Most notably, you will learn there was a lot more to John Duns Scotus than theological papers. In my opinion, he is the backbone for this book, and it would benefit all interested Scots to re-read Scotus or, for the majority of us, to read him for the first time. He was, as the authors so ably point out, "one of the two foremost moral philosophers of the European Middle Ages." The other? Thomas Aquinas. John Duns Scotus championed human rights, individual freedom and basically a government that exists only with the consent of the people, or as we know it today, "of the people, by the people, for the people."

In Latin, Scotus means "the Scot." Born near Stirling Castle in Duns, Berwickshire, he was known as the Subtle Doctor. Scotus "left behind a monumental work in the field of metaphysics..." at Oxford. Sent to Paris to continue his studies, he was expelled from France in 1303 for siding with the Pope in a dispute with Philip the Fair. Allowed to return to Paris in 1305, Scotus went on to earn his Doctorate in Theology and began his professorship. His "academic and scholarly career led to his international reputation as one of the foremost medieval scholastics."

He found himself involved in another brouhaha about his then radical view of the Immaculate Conception. Ironically, the Roman Catholic Church universally accepts his view today. Forced to leave France again, he found his way to Cologne, Germany where he continued to lecture until his premature death at the age of 43. Buried in Cologne, there is this inscription I borrowed from Duncan Bruce's The Scottish 100:

Scotia me genuit, Scotland begot me
Anglia me suscepit, England reared me

Gallia me docuit, France taught me
Colonia me tenet. Cologne holds me

And I would add, the freedom loving countries of this world thank you, John Duns Scotus.

The book does not end with John Duns Scotus. There is much more that deals with new insights regarding The Scottish Invention of America (Part Two) and the Age of Rights of Mankind (Part Three). Space, unfortunately, does not permit further discussion, but any lover of Scottish books will want a copy of this unique book for their library. Any lover of freedom will find this a "must have" book. It is refreshing writing that offers new insights regarding our freedom - as individuals and as a nation. Any serious Scottish student will have a wonderful time with this book. The authors have done all of us a favor by writing it, so do yourself one and purchase it! Klieforth and Munro have included a masterful fifty-page chronology of Celtic, Scottish and American events. That in itself is worth the price of a good book, and this one fits that description. You will spend many enjoyable hours with this publication. Please note: ISBN 0-7618-2791-9. Published by the University Press of America.
For a 15% discount, please go to www.univpress.com.

Frank R. Shaw 7-5-04
The Family Tree

Rating:
Summary: The Scottish Invention of America, Democracy & Human Rights
Review: This is a book about the birth & history of liberty & freedom from a Scottish viewpoint. Without blowing bagpipes or waving their tartans, the authors set out to prove that democracy & human rights had their roots in Scotland. The case is well made. The authors exhaustively review the impact of the Scots in these two areas. The book begins in 1300 BC and brings us up to 2004.

The authors present strong and compelling proof that the roots of liberty & the struggles for freedom, for individuals and nations, date back to the ancient Celts, followed by the Scottish struggle for independence. The radical political thought
had only been hinted at until the Scots were willing to walk the talk. Less talk, more walk is what you get in The Scottish Invention of America.

Most notably, you will learn there was a lot more to John Duns Scotus than theological papers. In my opinion, he is the backbone for this book, and it would benefit all interested Scots to re-read Scotus or, for the majority of us, to read him for the first time. He was, as the authors so ably point out, "one of the two foremost moral philosophers of the European Middle Ages." The other? Thomas Aquinas. John Duns Scotus championed human rights, individual freedom and basically a government that exists only with the consent of the people, or as we know it today, "of the people, by the people, for the people."

In Latin, Scotus means "the Scot." Born near Stirling Castle in Duns, Berwickshire, he was known as the Subtle Doctor. Scotus "left behind a monumental work in the field of metaphysics..." at Oxford. Sent to Paris to continue his studies, he was expelled from France in 1303 for siding with the Pope in a dispute with Philip the Fair. Allowed to return to Paris in 1305, Scotus went on to earn his Doctorate in Theology and began his professorship. His "academic and scholarly career led to his international reputation as one of the foremost medieval scholastics."

He found himself involved in another brouhaha about his then radical view of the Immaculate Conception. Ironically, the Roman Catholic Church universally accepts his view today. Forced to leave France again, he found his way to Cologne, Germany where he continued to lecture until his premature death at the age of 43. Buried in Cologne, there is this inscription I borrowed from Duncan Bruce's The Scottish 100:

Scotia me genuit, Scotland begot me
Anglia me suscepit, England reared me

Gallia me docuit, France taught me
Colonia me tenet. Cologne holds me

And I would add, the freedom loving countries of this world thank you, John Duns Scotus.

The book does not end with John Duns Scotus. There is much more that deals with new insights regarding The Scottish Invention of America (Part Two) and the Age of Rights of Mankind (Part Three). Space, unfortunately, does not permit further discussion, but any lover of Scottish books will want a copy of this unique book for their library. Any lover of freedom will find this a "must have" book. It is refreshing writing that offers new insights regarding our freedom - as individuals and as a nation. Any serious Scottish student will have a wonderful time with this book. The authors have done all of us a favor by writing it, so do yourself one and purchase it! Klieforth and Munro have included a masterful fifty-page chronology of Celtic, Scottish and American events. That in itself is worth the price of a good book, and this one fits that description. You will spend many enjoyable hours with this publication. Please note: ISBN 0-7618-2791-9. Published by the University Press of America.
For a 15% discount, please go to www.univpress.com.

Frank R. Shaw 7-5-04
The Family Tree