History of Libertarianism

Benjamin Martin: May I sit with you?
Charlotte Selton: It's a free country. Or at least it will be.
--The Patriot

Here is a great overview of the history of libertarianism. I plan re-read this and perhaps sketch an outline.

As stated at the outset, all political philosophies boil down to one of two genres. One is a philosophy of liberty, where people should be free to live their lives as they see fit, as long as they don't forcefully intrude on the pursuits of others to do the same.

The other is a philosophy of power, where some people should be able to force others to do their bidding.

One thing that stuck out to me when reading this is that the philosophy of liberty was being shaped long before the Lockean 1600, with ideas about natural law being proffered before Christ. Of course, the default state of the world was conquest and despotism. The dominant logic was that there were two classes of people: the rulers and the ruled.

Various people ranging from Sophocles to St Thomas Aquinas to John Milton to the Levellers helped people see otherwise. Individuals were born free, and endowed with inalienable rights to pursue their interests unencumbered by forceful invasion by others.

By the time Locke, Voltaire, Trenchant & Gordon, and others began organizing the theory of natural law, the world was receptive. And, as much of this thought was being developed in Europe, the ideas were exported to the American colonies where they were further refined by a people hungry for freedom.

The course of history was readying for a big change.