A Look at Gordon Wood’s Idea of Change and Virtues of Democracy

Last Updated: 28 Feb 2023
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Gordon Wood has written a well thought and compelling book that shares the change of ideas, virtues, and the definition of natural order throughout the colonial era in America. The book stresses on the fact that America didn't just swap ideals, and more importantly government types. Wood describes each of the three government institutions, Monarchy, Republic, and Democracy, as eroding the one prior. Democracy is the final change in thought and ideals, although it has evolved, that we see in our present day government in the United States.

Democracy can be summed up pretty quickly taking a glance at its Greek roots; Demo-, meaning people, and -cracy, meaning to rule. This differs vastly from a Republic ideal where the people may be equal, but there are those who are naturally leaders. Those natural leaders, of course, were the "disinterested" gentlemen, who could legislate and make decisions for the "common good" and vote accordingly. Democracy destroyed this institution of gentlemen leaders and men of leisure being the "natural leaders" of a republic. The people of America soon realized that it was near impossible being disinterested, and who better to lead the people, than people of the people, by the people. In fact, the people began to resent those who lived a life of leisure and did not work with their hands. The main idea of democracy was that of equality. Wood makes his thesis evident by stating that, "Ordinary Americans came to believe that no one in a basic down-to-earth and day-in-and-day-out manner was really better than anyone else. That was equality as no other nation has ever quite hade it" (P.234).

Equality was what makes democracy work, and is the reason the revolution was radical. It was the first country to do so. The French revolution has been credited with this "radical" ideology, but the equality was of a different connotation. American equality was that of equal opportunity, a meritocracy in a sense. One could now rise through the ranks by hard work and natural talent. The middle class would start to rise and become quite influential and important to the formation of the United States, Equality in France was simply to balance wealth between the upper-class and lower class. America pioneered the way into civil liberties and an egalitarian way of thinking.

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Interests also become a common occurrence in government. People would create their own interest groups to represent them in government. . The mentality had changed from the Republic; gentlemen were not fit to speak for the general public. Abraham Bishop was a major advocate to give the power to the people. Being a gentleman himself, he alienated with the genteel status and spoke of the oppression and corruption the gentlemen was capable of. It was said that "Every ploughman knows a good government from a bad one" (P.235). Wood credits America in their radical changes by stating that America would become," the first society in the modern world to bring ordinary people into the affairs of government-not just as voters but as actual rulers" (P.244). People would band together with common interests and would ensure actual representation instead of virtual representation.

The chapter on Democracy is well written and includes both criticism and praise of each view on the Democracy system. He includes views from both the Federalists and Republicans, and even includes individuals such as Abraham Bishop. Wood's uses of primary sources is simply outstanding, and Abraham Bishops quotes, being an alienated gentlemen, really add s emphasis to the value of the working man and the sneering of those who deemed themselves of "higher status". However, with this thought of "equal opportunity", Wood hardly discusses slaves. If equal opportunity was the main point of democracy, slaves must have been a hot topic for the time. Another aspect Wood fails to mention, although he may just assume that we as readers know, is the Bill of Rights itself. It would have been beneficial to discuss and maybe even "understand it in its own terms" the amendments and how that came to shape and promote democracy. These problems are mainly omissions, but the writing itself that Wood uses is simply fantastic. It reads like a novel, but teaches like a lecture. The amount of primary sources really adds credibility.

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A Look at Gordon Wood’s Idea of Change and Virtues of Democracy. (2023, Feb 22). Retrieved from https://phdessay.com/a-look-at-gordon-woods-idea-of-change-and-virtues-of-democracy/

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