Sovereignty
Introduction
In the 1700s, there was a movement that questioned traditional authority. It was called the Age of Enlightenment, or the Age of Reason. Many people pushed for sovereignty for themselves. Sovereignty is the right of a person or a nation to govern themselves.
Sovereignty is a broad term. It has an effect on concepts such as identity, individuality, and the use of reason. These ideas developed together between 1750 and 1914. Without the concept of sovereignty, these ideas would make no sense.
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.
Sovereignty and liberal ideals
During the Enlightenment, many European countries were ruled by absolute monarchies. A king or queen has total control. After the Enlightenment, people challenged the power of monarchs and churches. There was more interest in individualism and freedom. Supporters of popular sovereignty believed that the people should have the political power. The government must represent the needs and ideas of the people.
Under absolute monarchies, the people are subjects who have to obey the ruler. Under popular sovereignty, the people are citizens who have political rights and power. This meant that popular sovereignty encouraged individual rights.
Believe it or not, it was once unusual to suggest that common individuals deserved to govern themselves. Today we may take this for granted, but at the time this was a new concept.
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 conquered or enslaved didn’t become full citizens. Working-class people and women weren’t given the same kinds of rights as wealthy men. In other words, the right of self-governing was only given to a small part of society.
In many ways, one group achieving sovereignty resulted in another losing freedom. For example, the United States gained popular sovereignty when it broke free from Great Britain. It kept slavery legal, however. Enslaved people were not given the rights of citizens.
In fact, 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 in Europe and the Americas 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 under harsh 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, while 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, while others found they had less control. For example, women had a bigger role in educating children, so 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. In Canada, Australia, and the United States, governments often forced the children of native people into boarding schools. The students were forced to change their behaviors and give up their native customs.
Enlightenment ideas about sovereignty and citizenship 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/
Fass, Paula S. The Routledge History of Childhood in the Western World. Abingdon, Oxon ; New York: Routledge, 2013.
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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