Sovereignty
Introduction
In the 1700s, thinkers began to question traditional rules. This time was called the Age of Enlightenment. Many people pushed for sovereignty for themselves. Sovereignty is the right of a person or a nation to govern themselves.
Sovereignty can mean a few things. It has an effect on many modern concepts. These include identity, individuality, and the use of reason. These ideas developed together. Without the concept of sovereignty, these ideas would make no sense.
Sovereignty and liberal ideals
Image from Leviathan, a book written by Thomas Hobbes (1588– 1679) and published in 1651. Though this book was published in the early modern period, the image of the Leviathan as a large body composed of many individuals was powerful for centuries after. Public domain.
During the Enlightenment, many European countries were ruled by absolute monarchies. A king or queen has total control. But people started to challenge the rule of monarchs. The power of churches was also questioned. There was more interest in individualism and freedom. Supporters of popular sovereignty believed that the people should have power. The government must have the support of the people. It must serve the needs and ideas of the people.
Under absolute monarchies, the people are subjects who are forced to obey the ruler. Under popular sovereignty, the people are citizens. They have political rights and power. Popular sovereignty encouraged individual rights.
It was once unusual to think that people should govern themselves. This may be hard to believe. Today we may take it for granted, but back then it was a new idea.
Sovereignty for whom?
Popular sovereignty does not mean that people are all treated equally. All citizens did not have the same rights. If differed based on class, race, and gender. People who were enslaved didn’t become full citizens. Working-class people had less freedom than the wealthy. Women had fewer rights than men. Popular sovereignty was only given to a small part of society.
Sometimes one group getting sovereignty resulted in another losing freedom. For example, the United States got popular sovereignty when it broke free from Great Britain. It kept slavery legal, however. Enslaved people were not given the rights of citizens. Each enslaved person was counted as three-fifths of a full citizen. It is one of history’s most obvious examples of inequality.
Women, workers, and children
Mary Wollstonecraft was a notable Enlightenment figure, and she was a strong proponent of equality for women. By John Opie, public domain.
Children were also not all treated equally. Wealthier children were able to go to schools instead of working. Under slavery, however, children were taken from their parents. Children under colonial rule were forced to work. They faced hard conditions in plantations, factories, and mines.
Women were also often left out when it came to personal sovereignty. Some Enlightenment thinkers still saw women as lesser than men. Others pushed for women’s equality. Conditions for women could be different based on race, class, and region. Privileged women had new social and educational opportunities. Women of lower classes did not. Many single mothers had to work to support their families.
Citizenship and the modern subject
Peoples’ lives changed in many ways under popular sovereignty. Some people found that the state now gave them freedom. Others found they had less control. For example, women had a bigger role in educating children. They had to be educated, too. Motherhood became a political act! This created new opportunities for women. It also meant that they had less control in deciding to have children.
Children were also controlled more, partly through schools. The schools could control their daily activity. Governments often forced the children of native people into boarding schools. The students were forced to change their behaviors. They had to give up their native customs.
Enlightenment ideas about sovereignty changed the face of the globe. It’s important to remember that these changes were very uneven. Different groups of people have been included and excluded from these values. The ideas about personal sovereignty continue to influence many political institutions.
Sources
Shachar, Ayelet, Rainer Bauböck, Irene Bloemraad, and Maarten Vink. The Oxford Handbook of Citizenship. Oxford University Press, 2017. http://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198805854.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780198805854
Cooley, Nicole. “The History of Dollhouses.” The Atlantic, July 22, 2016. https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2016/07/dollhouses-werent-invented-for-play/492581/
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Milne, Brian. The History and Theory of Children’s Citizenship in Contemporary Societies. Dordrecht ; New York: Springer, 2013.
Roland Robertson, et al. The Oxford Handbook of Global Studies. New York: Oxford University Press, 2018.
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Eman M. Elshaikh
The author of this article is Eman M. Elshaikh. She is a writer, researcher, and teacher who has taught K-12 and undergraduates in the United States and in the Middle East. She teaches writing at the University of Chicago, where she also completed her master’s in social sciences and is currently pursuing her PhD. She was previously a World History Fellow at Khan Academy, where she worked closely with the College Board to develop curriculum for AP World History.
Image credits
This work is licensed under CC BY 4.0 except for the following:
Cover image: Declaration of the Rights of Man and of Citizen (the monarchy holds the broken chains of tyranny, the genius of the nation holds the scepter of the power). Painting attributed to Jean Jacques Francois Barbier, 1789. Oil on wood. Carnavalet Museum, Paris. © Leemage/Corbis via Getty Images
Image from Leviathan, a book written by Thomas Hobbes (1588–1679) and published in 1651. Though this book was published in the early modern period, the image of the Leviathan as a large body composed of many individuals was powerful for centuries after. By Unknown, public domain. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sovereignty#/media/File:Leviathan_by_Thomas_Hobbes.jpg
Mary Wollstonecraft was a notable Enlightenment figure, and she was a strong proponent of equality for women. By John Opie, public domain. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Wollstonecraft#/media/File:MaryWollstonecraft.jpg
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