"C" is for Country Ideology

"C" is for Country ideology. Country ideology was a series of ideas expounded in the seventeenth and eighteenth century by English writers such as Thomas Gordon and John Trenchard. These men opposed the accumulation of power by the British crown at the expense of the House of Commons—the representatives of the people. Government became necessary to protect liberty, but government was composed of imperfect men who could never be trusted to use power selflessly. Thus the representatives of the people should hold the power of the purse and control taxation. As independent men of property, representatives acted in the best interests of their constituents and protected them from the expansion of executive authority. The country ideology lay behind the move toward revolution as South Carolina’s leaders reacted to an outside threat by the British king and Parliament.