Grievances
The societies viewed excessive power as the enemy of liberty and were weary of the undue, corrupt accumulation of power in the central government. The Society of Newcastle, Delaware said, "If we consult the lamentable annals of mankind, and cast our eyes back over the historic page we shall find this solemn truth recorded in large characters; that all governments however free in their origin, have in the end degenerated into despotism." These societies adhered to Jeffersonian thought and believed the infant nation was fragile and needed careful protection by a vigilant population. The societies feared that Hamilton’s financial policies edged too close to English aristocracy; they saw the policies as “prescriptions of Aristocracy, under the masque of Federalism.” They opposed the growing class of commercial elites and speculators. One society in NYC said they had “less respect to the consuming speculator, who wallows in luxury, than to the productive mechanic who struggles with indigence.” The societies grieved a lack of virtue and patriotism in the 1790's. They viewed "jealousy" and suspicion of the government not as protest, but as the duty of a virtuous, vigilant citizen to maintain the republic. Tunis Wortman, secretary of the Democratic Society of New York stated, “It is a truth too evident to be disguised, that since the completion and final establishment of our revolution, the flame of liberty has burned less bright, and become less universal in its operation. The charms of wealth, the allurements of luxury, the thirst for gain and the ruinous system of speculation, have borne down like the irresistible flood upon us, and have threatened destruction to the most valuable elements of social life:-the desire of affluence and the love of ease, have absorbed every honorable and patriotic consideration; have rendered us supine and indolent, and have nearly banished from our minds the sentiment of public virtue, destroyed the ardor of liberty, and diminished our attachment to the sacred interests of our country.”
Read more about this topic: Democratic-Republican Societies
Famous quotes containing the word grievances:
“It is time that we start thinking about foundational issues: about our attitudes toward fair trials... Who are the People in a multicultural society?... The victims of discrimination are now organized. Blacks, Jews, gays, women—they will no longer tolerate second-class status. They seek vindication for past grievances in the trials that take place today, the new political trial.”
—George P. Fletcher, U.S. law educator. With Justice for Some, p. 6, Addison-Wesley (1995)
“This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; the being thoroughly worn out before you are thrown on the scrap heap; the being a force of Nature instead of a feverish selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy. And also the only real tragedy in life is being used by personally minded men for purposes which you recognize to be base.”
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“These are our grievances which we have thus laid before his majesty with that freedom of language and sentiment which becomes a free people, claiming their rights as derived from the laws of nature, and not as the gift of their chief magistrate.”
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)