Eighteenth-Century Commonwealthman, The by Caroline Robbins

by Caroline Robbins

Of the Previous Edition . . .1999) was educated at the University of London, receiving her Ph.D. there before going to the United States. She taught history at Bryn Mawr College from 1929 to 1971 and was chairman of the department from 1957 to 1969. Author of numerous articles on English political and constitutional history, she wrote Absolute Liberty (1982), edited Two English Republican Tracts (1969), and was chairman of the Papers of William Penn from 1967 to 1979. Click here for a pdf of a brochure featuring The Eighteenth-Century Commonwealthman

Genres: History, Politics, Philosophy

Paperback Bunko

First published January 1, 1959

About the author

Caroline Robbins or Caroline Herben was a professor of British history at Bryn Mawr College from 1929 until her retirement in 1971.

Reviews

[Reid Luzzader · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is considered a classic study in the history of political thought. Robbins argues convincingly that there was an unbroken tradition of republican thought in England from the time of the English Civil War in the 17th century to the time of the American Revolution. These writers she collectively calls the "Commonwealthmen". This intellectual tradition strongly influenced American revolutionaries. (Some knowledge of 17th and 18th century English politics and political thought will probably be required to fully appreciate this book).

[Jesse · Rating 3 out of 5]

Useful, but frustrating. Often feels like a rote list of biographies & ideas of one after another commonwealthman, tied together by brief explanations of how the previous man was an acquaintance of the next. Her analytical framework leaves a lot to be desired.

I've seen some folks claim that J. G. A. Pocock, and later Skinner & Laslett, have exaggerated the influence of James Harrington on English politics. That may be true, for Robbins frequently claims that her Real Whigs had little political influence in England outside of maintaining a Liberal/Republican tradition so that it could be picked up by the American Revolutionaries - an influence that Bailyn's The ideological origins of the American Revolution corroborates. However, she certainly stresses the importance of Harrington to Republican thought, comparable only to Milton among writers who were active during the Interregnum.

Oddly, the ideas of Cromwell or the Levellers themselves play little to no role here. Perhaps this is because Robbins is looking at secular-political ideas as opposed to those expressed in religious idioms, or perhaps the Commonwealthmen, even the Dissenters, eschewed too strong a defense of the Lord Protector himself. Certainly a frustrating omission, since she discusses the liberalizing religious views of the Dissenters at length, albeit in a way which emphasizes beliefs that transcended strictly sectarian lines, and still with an eye mainly towards the secular beliefs manifested by Dissenters. Perhaps this very liberalization made them uncomfortable with the Puritanism of the Revolution, a discomfort she alludes to, or perhaps the sects which maintained a stricter Puritanism remained active but did not pick up the more secular literary tradition she prefers.

[Justin Evans · Rating 3 out of 5]

Exhaustive, but thoroughly exhausting academic tome; it's not especially well organized or readable, and its 377 pages feel more like 500. It is 'important', though, whether you're looking for the respectable roots of your respectable liberal-conservative views, or if you're looking for evidence that those roots of respectable liberal-conservative views are rather more revolutionary and republican (as in, not individualistic), and less liberal and respectable, than expected.

[Steven Peterson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book examines what the author refers to as "Eighteenth Century Commonwealthmen." Some of these thinkers, such as Trenchard and Gordon, were referred to as Radical Whigs. This is a set of important political thinkers and actors in England at a critical juncture.

Who are exemplars of Commonwealthmen? From the 17th century, the aurthor refers to Neville, Harrington, and Milton, among others. Other examples: John Locke, James Tyrrell, Robert Molesworth, John Trenchard, Thomas Gordon (the work of Trenchard and Gordon was widely distributed in the colonies in the pre-Revolutionary War era), and so on.

This is a good resource on one perspective on English politics of the era. . . .