These words come straight from my former American Heritage professor, Dr. Pope. He was aiming to express how we as Americans relate to and lean heavily upon the political philosophies of John Locke, an intellectual revolutionary in 17th century England. And he has a point-- American political thought is grounded in Locke's writings. For example, these key points of Locke's philosophy are engrained in our political system:
- The government obtains its power by the consent of the governed.
- Lawlessness is exchanged for true liberty and safety by a social contract-- an exchange of personal freedom for the stability and greater good of society.
- The obligation of government to protect "natural" human rights: life, liberty, and property.
- Permission to the people, as it were, to overthrow any government which fails to do so.
The familiarity of these ideas to any American demonstrates the power of Locke's works! But all of Locke's political thought was the byproduct of a basic philosophy regarding human nature: Tabula Rasa ("blank slate"). Essentially, Locke believed man is born without any mental content and that all knowledge is gained via personal experience and learning. This belief endows humans with a greater sense of freedom and fosters the idea of self-determination. Contrast this with the centuries preceding Locke characterized by homogeneity, intolerance, and political sluggishness of the average man. What a notion is Tabula Rasa!
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| Sibyl with Tabula Rasa by Diego Velázquez, c. 1648 |
But what does Tabula Rasa mean in terms of the American's pursuit of life, liberty, and property-- or as Jefferson said, the pursuit of happiness? The following quote from Oscar Handlin explains:
"Once I thought to write a history of the immigrants of America. Then I discovered that the immigrants were American History."
That's one thing we share in common as Americans: somewhere in our decadency, an ancestor has come to this land in a Tabula Rasa state seeking those liberties which Locke valiantly proposed. On my mother's side, it was pilgrims in the 17th century. On my father's side, it was my Grandpa Kohler, seeking refuge from harrowing post-WWI Germany. In both cases, my ancestors' possessions were meager, but their hope of a new life was burning brightly.
So perhaps that's why we all have "a crush" on Locke. No matter our background, we all stem from immigrants embodying the principles of Lockean philosophy. Or in other words, his philosophy is in our DNA.
Image credit:
Sibyl with Tabula Rasa by Diego Velázquez, c. 1648
Photo courtesy of the Ellis Island National Museum of Immigration. https://www.cgu.edu/news/2017/03/pbs-performance-boyers-ellis-island-celebration-immigration/.
As an immigrant, yes. I’m a Canadian going through the process of getting American citizenship. Most people laugh when I put immigrant and Canadian in the same sentence, but being foreign gives you a chance to meet and connect with other foreigners very quickly and most of us have this tabula rasa going on. We’re in America now. It doesn’t matter who we were. We can be someone new because no one knows who we used to be. Before coming here, I wanted to join the military as an engineer. But now, I’m an SEO writer without any attachments to my past that I didn’t purposely keep. Coming to America gave me a chance to be new.
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