Opposition To The Country Party

Also referred to as the Opposition and the Commonwealthmen, the Country Party was an unorganized force of English writers and theorists who battled imperial centralized power and corruption through their writings and rhetoric. Some of these writers included Jonathan Swift, Samuel Johnson, and Andrew Fletcher of Saltoun. The Country Party was at its strongest in England for only sixty years, between 1680 and 1740. However, their principles kindled the American Revolution. Members of the Country Party deemed the rulers who were in power in London as the “Court Party.” One of the early leaders to call for the direct opposition to the Court Party was Henry St. John, First Viscount of Bolingbroke. He believed that British liberty was endangered
Also, colonial smugglers were made subject to admiralty trials conducted by royally appointed justices without the use of juries. On top of all of that, a multitude of British troops flooded into Boston to coerce and subdue the colonists. These troops were quartered on the colonist’s property without their consent. Perhaps it was during this time of oppression that the colonists even more widely began to accept and revere one of the chief beliefs of the Country Party: the ancient idea of classical republicanism. This principle accentuates that power tends to corrupt human beings and all rulers must be carefully observed to ensure that they are not abusing their power. Thus, a republican, representative form of government was the most ideal because it prevents the centralization of power into the hands of a few and it provides for the accountability of elected rulers to the people. The colonists deeply desired to rule themselves through a representative republic that was responsive to the will of the people. This yearning for republican representation was ignited by the profound principles of the Country Party into the blazing inferno of the American War for