Question

Analyze the passage below from John Winthrop, "Speech to the Massachusetts General Court" (July 3, 1645). The great questions that have troubled the country, are about the authority of the magistrates and the liberty of the people. … Concerning liberty, I observe a great mistake in the country about that. There is a twofold liberty, natural (I mean as our nature is now corrupt) and civil or federal. The first is common to man with beasts and other creatures. By this, man, as he stands in relation to man simply, hath liberty to do what he lists; it is a liberty to do evil as well as to [do] good. This liberty is incompatible and inconsistent with authority, and cannot endure the least restraint of the most just authority. The exercise and maintaining of this liberty makes men grow more evil, and in time to be worse than brute beasts. … This is that great enemy of truth and peace, that wild beast, which all the ordinances of God are bent against, to restrain and subdue it. Why does Winthrop consider "natural" liberty dangerous?

Answer 1

Answer and explanation:

From the excerpt we can learn that the speaker, John Winthrop, sees liberty as a mixed blessing. Man is given such liberty the same way animals are. But, according to him, man's nature is corrupt. Thus, liberty means the capacity to do what is good as well as what is bad. The speaker believes people should abide by the law, follow the rules, otherwise chaos will reign. Therefore, if man wants to live in a civilized manner, he must refrain himself from doing what is evil. The right way to do it is by respecting authority.