Portraits of Liberty

Despite its reputation as a dark age, the Medieval period was not devoid of intellectual substance. An example of this is William of Pagula, a 14th-century English priest and scholar who wrote The Mirror of King Edward III , a political treatise condemning the king's practice of purveyance and excessive taxation. Using a mixture of Biblical and Classical authorities, William made the moral case against interfering with property rights.

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Born into slavery, Elizabeth Freeman gained her freedom in 1781, eighty years before the American Civil War. Freeman did not escape to Pennsylvania as was common at the time. She gained her freedom through the courts. Upon winning her case, she changed her name to Elizabeth Freeman to celebrate her new life.

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Born between the Scottish Lowlands and Highlands, Ferguson made a name for himself writing philosophical history, an early precursor to sociology. In his famous work, An Essay on The History of Civil Society, Ferguson explained how civilization is refined over many generations  as society evolves to deal with ever-increasing complexity.  

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Despite his upbringing in poverty and vicious racial discrimination, the black freeman James Forten rose to become one of the foremost sailmakers in Philadelphia and a crucial voice in the abolition of slavery. Though largely forgotten today, Forten defied the racial stereotypes of his day and became a symbol of black achievement in the new nation of America.

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This month, we examine the often-overlooked legacy of William Graham Sumner, a 19th-century sociologist, economist, and political thinker. Despite his pivotal role in establishing sociology as a discipline at Yale, Sumner's contributions have been overshadowed, partly due to his association with Herbert Spencer, who has been incorrectly labeled a social Darwinist. The episode delves into Sumner's life ideas, covering his critique of imperialism, the Forgotten Man, and the phenomenon of concentrated benefits and diffuse costs.

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Renowned for his larger-than-life character, Karl Hess started as a conservative but slowly shifted away from the Republican party, turning towards the New Left. Eventually seeing the contradictions of both the right and the left, Hess became an anarchist without hyphens.

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Jane Jacobs revolutionized the study of cities. She did not see them as merely areas of high population densities, but as huge laboratories for experimentation making cities the flash points of the history of human progress. Her intellectual career was spent checking the hubris of government officials.

Further Reading:

A City Cannot Be a Work of Art: Learning Economics and Social Theory From Jane Jacobs by Sanford Ikeda

More articles and podcasts from Libertarianism.org:

The Rise of Free Cities: Guizot's Seventh Lecture

The Harlem Renaissance: Black Cultural Innovation Unleashed

Immanuel Kant on Spontaneous Order

Interview with Chelsea Follett – The Liberty Exchange

The Ethics Of Progress – Building Tomorrow

Why More People Means More Wealth – Free Thoughts

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Celebrating the tenth anniversary of Havel's Place in Georgetown, an episode dedicated to the dissidents of Czechoslovakia responsible for the Velvet Revolution in 1989, overthrowing the brutal Communist regime without violence or bloodshed.

Find out more at Libertarianism.org

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Coming soon, a brand new podcast from Libertarianism.org...

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A special 50th episode of Portraits about why a layperson should study history.

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