Orrin Woodward on LIFE & Leadership

Inc Magazine Top 20 Leader shares his personal, professional, and financial secrets.

  • Orrin Woodward

    1
    Former Guinness World Record Holder for largest book signing ever, Orrin Woodward is a NY Times bestselling author of And Justice For All along with RESOLVED & coauthor of LeaderShift and Launching a Leadership Revolution. His books have sold over one million copies in the financial, leadership and liberty fields. RESOLVED: 13 Resolutions For LIFE made the Top 100 All-Time Best Leadership Books and the 13 Resolutions are the framework for the top selling Mental Fitness Challenge personal development program.

    Orrin made the Top 20 Inc. Magazine Leadership list & has co-founded two multi-million dollar leadership companies. Currently, he serves as the Chairman of the Board of the LIFE. He has a B.S. degree from GMI-EMI (now Kettering University) in manufacturing systems engineering. He holds four U.S. patents, and won an exclusive National Technical Benchmarking Award.

    This blog is an Alltop selection and ranked in HR's Top 100 Blogs for Management & Leadership.

  • Orrin’s Latest Book








  • 7 Day Free Access to Leadership Audios!

  • Email Me

  • NY Times Bestselling Book


  • Mental Fitness Challenge

  • Categories

  • Archives

Lord Acton: Modern History

Posted by Orrin Woodward on July 25, 2013

Lord Acton

Lord Acton

John Dalberg-Acton (Lord Acton) was one of the greatest minds and historians of his era. Counselor to Prime Minister William Gladstone, Lord Acton probably understood the battle between freedom and force better than anyone. Unfortunately, his much anticipated work on the history of freedom was never completed. Nonetheless, historians, who have read his notes and annotations, have raved about his immense wisdom on people, power, and politics.

Recently, I completed a series of lectures from Lord Acton in his book Modern History. There were so many nuggets in this book that I wanted to highlight the whole thing! In any event, I want to share with you one segment of the book where he talks about the origins of England’s conflict with its American colonies. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Sincerely,

Orrin WoodwardLIFE Leadership Co-Founder

Then came the larger question of taxation. Regulation of external traffic was admitted. England patrolled the sea and protected America from the smuggler and the pirate. Some remuneration might be reasonably claimed; but it ought to be obtained in such a way as not to hamper and prohibit the increase of wealth. The restrictions on industry and trade were, however, contrived for the benefit of England and to the injury of her colonies. They demanded that the arrangement should be made for their mutual advantage. They did not go so far as to affirm that it ought to be to their advantage only, irrespective of ours, which is our policy with our colonies at the present time. The claim was not originally excessive. It is the basis of the imputation that the dispute, on both sides, was an affair of sordid interest. We shall find it more just to say that the motive was empire on one side and self–government on the other.

It was a question between liberty and authority, government by consent and government by force, the control of the subject by the State, and the control of the State by the subject. The issue had never been so definitely raised. In England it had long been settled. It had been settled that the legislature could, without breach of any ethical or constitutional law, without forfeiting its authority or exposing itself to just revolt, make laws injurious to the subject for the benefit of English religion or English trade. If that principle was abandoned in America it could not well be maintained in Ireland, and the green flag might fly on Dublin Castle. This was no survival of the dark ages. Both the oppression of Ireland and the oppression of America was the work of the modern school, of men who executed one king and expelled another. It was the work of parliament, of the parliaments of Cromwell and of William III. And the parliament would not consent to renounce its own specific policy, its right of imposing taxes.

The crown, the clergy, the aristocracy, were hostile to the Americans; but the real enemy was the House of Commons. The old European securities for good government were found insufficient protection against parliamentary oppression. The nation itself, acting by its representatives, had to be subjected to control. The political problem raised by the New World was more complicated than the simple issues dealt with hitherto in the Old. It had become necessary to turn back the current of the development of politics, to bind and limit and confine the State, which it was the pride of the moderns to exalt. It was a new phase of political history. The American Revolution innovated upon the English Revolution, as the English Revolution innovated on the politics of Bacon or of Hobbes. There was no tyranny to be resented. The colonists were in many ways more completely their own masters than Englishmen at home. They were not roused by the sense of intolerable wrong.

The point at issue was a very subtle and refined one, and it required a great deal of mismanagement to make the quarrel irreconcilable. Successive English governments shifted their ground. They tried the Stamp Act; then the duty on tea and several other articles; then the tea duty alone; and at last something even less than the tea duty. In one thing they were consistent: they never abandoned the right of raising taxes. When the colonists, instigated by Patrick Henry, resisted the use of stamps, and Pitt rejoiced that they had resisted, parliament gave way on that particular measure, declaring that it retained the disputed right. Townshend carried a series of taxes on imports, which produced about three hundred pounds, and were dropped by Lord North. Then an ingenious plan was devised, which would enforce the right of taxation, but which would not be felt by American pockets, and would, indeed, put money into them, in the shape of a bribe. East Indiamen were allowed to carry tea to American ports without paying toll in England.

The Navigation Laws were suspended, that people in New England might drink cheap tea, without smuggling. The duty in England was a shilling a pound. The duty in America was threepence a pound. The shilling was remitted, so that the colonies had only a duty of threepence to pay instead of a duty of fifteenpence. The tea–drinker at Boston got his tea cheaper than the tea–drinker at Bristol. The revenue made a sacrifice, it incurred a loss, in order to gratify the discontented colonials. If it was a grievance to pay more for a commodity, how could it be a grievance to pay less for the same commodity? To gild the pill still further, it was proposed that the threepence should be levied at the British ports, so that the Americans should perceive nothing but the gift, nothing but the welcome fact that their tea was cheaper, and should be spared entirely the taste of the bitterness within. That would have upset the entire scheme. The government would not hear of it. America was to have cheap tea, but was to admit the tax. The sordid purpose was surrendered on our side, and only the constitutional motive was retained, in the belief that the sordid element alone prevailed in the colonies. That threepence broke up the British empire.

Twelve years of renewed contention, ever coming up in altered shape under different ministers, made it clear that the mind of the great parent State was made up, and that all variations of party were illusory. The Americans grew more and more obstinate as they purged the sordid question of interest with which they had begun. At first they had consented to the restrictions imposed under the Navigation Laws. They now rejected them. One of the tea ships in Boston harbour was boarded at night, and the tea chests were flung into the Atlantic. That was the mild beginning of the greatest Revolution that had ever broken out among civilised men. The dispute had been reduced to its simplest expression, and had become a mere question of principle. The argument from the Charters, the argument from the Constitution, was discarded. The case was fought out on the ground of the Law of Nature, more properly speaking, of Divine Right. On that evening of 16th December 1773, it became, for the first time, the reigning force in History. By the rules of right, which had been obeyed till then, England had the better cause. By the principle which was then inaugurated, England was in the wrong, and the future belonged to the colonies. The revolutionary spirit had been handed down from the seventeenth–century sects, through the colonial charters.

As early as 1638 a Connecticut preacher said: “The choice of public magistrates belongs unto the people, by God’s own allowance. They who have the power to appoint officers and magistrates, it is in their power, also, to set the bounds and limitations of the power and place unto which they call them.” In Rhode Island, where the Royal Charter was so liberal that it lasted until 1842, all power reverted annually to the people, and the authorities had to undergo re–election. Connecticut possessed so finished a system of self–government in the towns, that it served as a model for the federal Constitution. The Quakers of Pennsylvania managed their affairs without privilege, or intolerance, or slavery, or oppression. It was not to imitate England that they went into the desert. Several colonies were in various ways far ahead of the mother country; and the most advanced statesman of the Commonwealth, Vane, had his training in New England. After the outrage on board the Dartmouth in Boston harbour the government resolved to coerce Massachusetts, and a continental Congress met to devise means for its protection.

19 Responses to “Lord Acton: Modern History”

  1. george guzzardo said

    Orrin, Nice job uncovering lessons from the past that apply to us today. Thank you for uncovering the wealth of knowledge from leaders from the past. George

  2. Olivier Jean-Baptiste said

    Orrin, once more, thanks for sharing.
    Personally, this is the sentence that got my attention from the text: “The case was fought out on the ground of the Law of Nature, more properly speaking, of Divine Right.”
    Just like in the mid-18th century John Trenchard and Thomas Gordon contributed to the propagation of the concept of Natural Right introduce\revived by John Locke in what came to be known as the Cato’s Letters which was widely read by the American revolution generation, in like manner it is the duty of any freedom lover to understand the Divine Right in order to properly act in reversing so many positive law and wrong legislations and regulations that actually serve to the purpose of subjugating and coercing the individual for the benefits of those who refuse to keep up with the game played by the free.

    I am enormously grateful for the Life Leadership community because it has opened my eye and provided me an environment for learning and growth and a place where I can be financially rewarded based on performance and the ability to serve others. Therefore my results are mostly up to me.
    Bod bless,
    Olivier

    • Orrin Woodward said

      Excellent Olivier! Cato’s Letters was huge in the colonies and transmitted natural law principles into the American conscious. thanks, Orrin

  3. Joe McGuire said

    Love this stuff!! Thanks for another great post. So much to learn so little time!!!

  4. Don Schultz, Team VIP Phalanx said

    Great article Orrin,

    It may have been possible for England to pacify the Colonies rather than dominate them but when people in power and without character want things to stay as they are they will often resort to means that aren’t beneficial or accepted by those with whom they are interacting with. If those in power in England wouldn’t have been greedy they may have pacified the Colonials through some concessions, but I’m not sure.

    Looking at the Cycle of the Body Politic there may have been enough spiritual awakening that brought a high enough level of courage that the Colonists may have “gone to the wall” regardless of Englands response. I am thankful that we had enough men and women with courage to act courageously and fight for freedom. I am reminded of a comment Oliver DeMille made about the number of committed people that are needed to effect change, only 1 1/2% – 2 1/2%. That gives me hope that this great country of ours is not lost.

  5. Scott Russell said

    Greeaattt Post Brother Orrin!!!

  6. Sarah Sandborn said

    Awesome History

  7. Rob Robson said

    Wow! Thanks Orrin! The battle for human agency was won before and we can win it again. Instead of bullets and bombs, we will win it with Books, Audio’s, and Events!

  8. Chad Waters said

    Hi Orrin

    So many lessons lost if we just didn’t seem to repeat them cycle after cycle where could the world be….

  9. Richard Kroll Jr. said

    Orrin… thank you for continually digging DEEP into the “available” literature, which is obviously “out there,” but not readily TAUGHT to the general public. I want to echo George Guzzardo’s appreciation for uncovering lessons from the past and sharing how they apply today!

    “Those who don’t know history are doomed to repeat it.” ― Edmund Burke

  10. Elizabeth said

    Another amazing history lesson!

  11. Aaron Lapp said

    I have hope again that we can turn this country around again thanks to life leadership

  12. Steve Meixner said

    Orrin, These history lessons are Great, keep them coming!
    Steve

  13. Edward Beamish said

    Orrin,

    History is one of those subjects that I remember vividly from school because it was of major interest to me those many years ago. As usual I find that the lessons from history that should have been taught were absent. I want to thank you for digging up these important lessons and so look forward to more historical truths that the society as a whole should be made aware. LIFE will be the vehicle that will open the eyes of people in today’s society that at the moment are letting important thing slip by unnoticed.

    Ed

  14. Hilary Dorr said

    Thanks Orrin!

  15. matt mielke said

    Wow, I am so thankful that God has given you the brain and time to uncover such valuable information to share. Thanks for sharing Orrin. Now I’m going back to reading at my level – The Little Red Hen 😉

  16. Fantastic!

  17. Antonio Rosselli said

    I assume that @ the time the “Win Win” way of thinking was not common kowledge … Ty

Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.