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Terrell DG, The Evolution of Individual Rights

The Evolution of Individual Rights

David G Terrell
January 3, 2010

Along the trail of years, J.M. Roberts leads his readers from humanity's origins to the triumphs

and failures of our modern, global society. Along the way, woven into his tale, is a relatively

unheralded and unacknowledged skein of history; the story of Sovereignty. Strewn along his

unfolding narrative, Roberts has dropped Pearls of Great Price1 describing the migration of

sovereignty from privileged individuals drawing power from religion and violence towards

everyman--through the concepts of natural rights espoused in the English and American

Constitutions.

Roberts places the beginning of human history at the point homo sapiens first stepped away from

his instincts--"from the determinism of nature"--and squarely declares that human culture begins

its progressive development; accident and ecological pressures being increasingly affected by

human exploitation of experience and knowledge2. He supposes that culture--those psychological

structures that guide acceptable individual and group behavior3 --embedded in memory rather

than genes allowed for faster mutation and evolution of successful behaviors4.

The first explicit references to the exercise of sovereignty come with Roberts' descriptions on the

earliest civilizations. Again, he draws attention to memory, or rather the ability to communicate

memory through writing--as a store of accumulated experience pertaining to agriculture and

1
Matt. 13:46, Bible KJV.
2
J.M. Roberts, A Short History of the World, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1993), 2.
3
Clifford Geertz, The Interpretation of Cultures. (New York: Basic Books, 1973), 11.
4
Roberts, 12.
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Terrell DG, The Evolution of Individual Rights

weather--to explain the rise of priestly classes that exercised power5. The use of written laws,

originating in Sumeria, permitted the organization of large urban communities whose members

developed innovative technologies. The persistence of communities and enduring societal rules,

coupled with violent interaction at civilizational boundaries allowed the rise of great individuals;

kings, who combined religious dignity with military prowess6. Prerogative and power; the ability

to dictate law and practice--sovereignty--was invested in these kings, the first individuals with

rights, in the modern sense.

This situation, the investing of sovereign power in the hands of those deemed sacred to deity

continued through the dynasties of Egypt, the Hittites, Aryans, Minoans, Mycenaeans, Assyrians,

Phoenicians, Persians, Hellenes, China, and Rome7. In all the centuries, the pattern was broken

only by classical Greece, who out of the isolation arising at the end of the Bronze Age,

developed a new paradigm; choosing leaders and establishing rules under the consent of all adult

male citizens of the polis8. Though the paradigm did not survive, the legacy--stored in its

literature--survived to come forth in a later period.

The tradition of the imperial sovereign passed from Rome into its adopted religion and, in turn,

its Byzantine sibling. This spawned a new series of Christian empires, while the rise of Islam

continued the Persian ideas of kingship. The Christian Churches, in their assumption of sacred

prerogatives, supported the continuance of monarchical rule. However, in Europe, the

5
Ibid., 39.
6
Ibid., 46-48.
7
Ibid., 57-205.
8
David G. Terrell, "Miscellaneous Essays on Ancient Greek Civilization," (Scribd.com Portfolio of David G Terrell.
August 22, 2009. http://www.scribd.com/doc/31886319/terrell-dg-misc-essays-on-greek-civilization-scribd
(accessed December 28, 2010)), 11.
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Terrell DG, The Evolution of Individual Rights

establishment of lower orders of "nobility" who asserted their prerogatives, dignity, even rights

to degrees of sovereignty pushed back against the encroachment of imperial control over their

activities9. This led to the institution of representative bodies to advocate the division of

sovereignty; and, to the emergence of a society whose great majority learned the concept of

"rights" without possessing them themselves.

In the West, the eventual establishment of Feudal social structures in support of this hierarchy of

nobility was eventually overcome by urban growth. The establishment of large networks of

merchants (commoners of substantial economic power) led to the consolidation of economic

resources outside of noble families. As the nobility's economic power was based on the power to

levy taxes, their influence was often negated by the tax relief provided by charters many urban

centers sought from imperial sovereigns. Because of the effect on taxation, the nobility attempted

to maintain power over the merchants, but suppressing them closed off flows of goods, foods,

etc. that sustained them and their subjects10.

In time, the mercantile social networks became sufficiently complex and adaptive to resist

coercion. In the codification of behaviors, lawyers replaced traditional sources of tribal wisdom

regarding the basic rules of correct behavior and the relative balance of power between

merchants and nobles became more homogeneous with only the clergy and imperial power held

higher. Competition and cooperation gave rise to ordered responses to societal challenges to

freedom of action; and rights became more widespread.

9
Roberts, 288.
10
Ibid., 287-289.
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Terrell DG, The Evolution of Individual Rights

With the diminishing power of the Holy Roman Emperor, sovereignty passed into the hands of

the national kings and the Papacy. In England, the melding of Roman, Celtic, British and

Germanic influences fostered a concept of King as Chief Executive, deriving power from the

people through a relatively representative parliament. In the same era, the Papacy's sovereignty

was shattered in northern Europe by the Reformation11.

The combined fall of Imperial and Papal sovereignty left a power vacuum in Europe that was

filled by the great powers. France remained an aristocratic monarchy; the Dutch became a

mercantile oligarchy; and, the English parliament grew stronger--eventually executing a king.

Like the Dutch, landowners and merchants came to exercise sovereignty. While the Dutch

suffered and declined under the hostile intentions of the French, the English, protected by the

Channel Fleet, grew wealthy. In the process, the English began to associate their economic

success with the advantages they enjoyed as a result of more widespread, individual

sovereignty12.

English "constitutionalism" affected international relations and eventually took root in North

America. The settlers there eventually declared independence and established a weak central

government that enshrined the idea of the sovereign individual who could delegate power to a

representative government. However, this Confederation proved to be too weak to function

effectively against other, more centralized, countries. The Americans then intentionally created a

11
Ibid., 294-295.
12
Ibid., 296-297.
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Terrell DG, The Evolution of Individual Rights

stronger central government, though hampered by intentional inefficiencies to prevent the seizure

of sovereignty by any one faction or individual.13

The global history of sovereignty since the adoption of the American Constitution has proved to

be a continuing struggle. On one hand, the world faces efforts to centralize power in the hands of

a single person or a small group (i.e. totalitarianism and fascism). This group includes those

whose "compassionate" desires seek to preserve all humanity from misery, through methods of

sharing deemed more rational and more equal--regardless of whether the rationale of compassion

is shared by all.

Standing in opposition are those intent on dispersing sovereignty to individuals, insofar as

possible, given the practical needs of maintaining such a condition in an international arena often

in opposition, establishing Justice, insuring domestic Tranquility, providing for the common

defense, promoting the general welfare, and securing Liberty (i.e. individualism and freedom).

David G Terrell
Herndon, Virginia

Bibliography

Geertz, Clifford. The Interpretation of Cultures. New York: Basic Books, 1973.

Roberts, JM. A Short History of the World. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1993.

13
Ibid., 325-326.
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Terrell DG, The Evolution of Individual Rights

Terrell, David G. "Miscellaneous Essays on Ancient Greek Civilization." Scribd.com Portfolio of

David G Terrell. August 22, 2009. http://www.scribd.com/doc/31886319/terrell-dg-misc-essays-
on-greek-civilization-scribd (accessed December 28, 2010).

© David G. Terrell, 2009-2011, except where otherwise noted, content is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-
Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License. For permission to reprint under terms outside the license, contact
davidterrell80@hotmail.com.