Niccolò Machiavelli - His Life, Philosophy and Influence

Niccolà ² Machiavelli - His Life, Philosophy and Influence Niccolà ² Machiavelli was one of the most influential political theorists of Western philosophy. His most read treatise, The Prince, turned Aristotle’s theory of virtues upside down, shaking the European conception of government at its foundations. Machiavelli lived in or nearby Florence Tuscany his whole life, during the peak of the Renaissance movement, in which he took part. He is also the author of a number of additional political treatises, including The Discourses on the First Decade of Titus Livius, as well as of literary texts, including two comedies and several poems. Life Machiavelli was born and raised in Florence, Italy, where his father was an attorney. Historians believe his education was of exceptional quality, especially in grammar, rhetoric, and Latin. He seems not to have been instructed in Greek, though, despite Florence having been a major center for the study of the Hellenic language since the middle of the fourteen hundreds. In 1498, at age twenty-nine Machiavelli was called to cover two relevant governmental roles in a moment of social turmoil for the newly constituted Republic of Florence: he was named chair of the second chancery and – a short time after – secretary of the Dieci di Libert e di Pace, a ten-person council responsible for maintaining diplomatic relationships with other States. Between 1499 and 1512 Machiavelli witnessed first-hand the unfolding of Italian political events. In 1513, the Medici family returned to Florence. Machiavelli was arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to overthrow this powerful family. He was first imprisoned and tortured then sent into exile. After his release, he retired to his country house in San Casciano Val di Pesa, about ten miles southwest of Florence. It is here, between 1513 and 1527, that he wrote his masterpieces. The Prince De Principatibus (literally: On Princedoms) was the first work composed by Machiavelli in San Casciano mostly during 1513; it was published only posthumously in 1532. The Prince is a short treatise of twenty-six chapters in which Machiavelli instructs a young pupil of the Medici family on how to acquire and maintain political power. Famously centered on the right balancing of fortune and virtue in the prince, it is by far the most read work by Machiavelli and one of the most prominent texts of Western political thought. The Discourses Despite the popularity of The Prince, Machiavelli’s major political work is probably The Discourses on the First Decade of Titus Livius. Its first pages were written in 1513, but the text was completed only between 1518 and 1521. If The Prince instructed how to govern a princedom, The Discourses were meant to educate future generations to achieve and maintain political stability in a republic. As the title suggests, the text is structured as a free commentary on the first ten volumes of Ab Urbe Condita Libri, the major work of Roman historian Titus Livius (59B.C.-17A.D.) The Discourses are divided into three volumes: the first devoted to internal politics; the second to foreign politics; the third one to a comparison of the most exemplary deeds of individual men in ancient Rome and Renaissance Italy. If the first volume reveals Machiavelli’s sympathy for the republican form of government, it is especially in the third that we find a lucid and pungent critical gaze at the political situation of Renaissance Italy. Other Political and Historical Works While carrying forward his governmental roles, Machiavelli had the opportunity to write about the events and issues he was witnessing first-hand. Some of them are critical to understanding the unfolding of his thought. They range from the examination of the political situation in Pisa (1499) and in Germany (1508-1512) to the method used by the Valentino in killing his enemies (1502). While in San Casciano, Machiavelli wrote also a number of treatises on politics and history, including a treatise on war (1519-1520), a recount of the life of the condottiero Castruccio Castracani (1281-1328), a history of Florence (1520-1525). Literary Works Machiavelli was a fine writer. He left us two fresh and entertaining comedies, The Mandragola (1518) and The Clizia (1525), both of which are still represented in these days. To these we shall add a novel, Belfagor Arcidiavolo (1515); a poem in verses inspired to Lucius Apuleius’s (about 125-180 A.D.) major work, L’asino d’oro (1517); several more poems, some of which amusing, the translation of a classical comedy by Publius Terentius Afer (circa 195-159B.C.); and several other smaller works. Machiavellianism By the end of the sixteenth century, The Prince had been translated into all major European languages and was the subject of heated disputes into the most important courts of the Old Continent. Often misinterpreted, the core ideas of Machiavelli were so despised that a term was coined to refer to them: ​Machiavellianism. To these days the term indicates a cynical attitude, according to which a politician is justified to do any tort if the end requires it.

Free sample - Events which led to the Revolutionary War. translation missing

Events which led to the Revolutionary War. Events which led to the Revolutionary WarIn the last half of the 18th century, thirteen colonies ganged up in a political upheaval so as to break free of the colonial rule imposed by Britain giving rise to the United States. These states first rejected the overseas authority without representation expressed by the Parliament of Great Britain and went further to expel all Royal officials in their states. Each former colonial province established a Provincial Congress so as to form a self, internal government. In response, the British sent troops so as to recover these provinces. This marked the onset of the American Revolutionary War that lasted between 1775 and ended in 1783 when the last of the British troops surrendered and both parties signed Treaty of Paris. The States therefore chose to reject all acts of tyranny and control collectively instigated by the British monarchy in favor of self-rule, as stated in the July 1776 United States Declaration of Independence. There are various events that led to the American Revolution. In the events timeline, these events triggered and inspired the decision, cause and clamor for independence by the colonies at the time. Key among these was the Boston Tea Party and the Boston Massacre. Prior to this, most people in the states were content with how it was being run. The British governed through indirect rule which allowed the states a degree of their own identity. However, at the onset of 1764, a pamphlet, ‘The Rights of the British Colonies Asserted and Approved’ was written by James Otis. He argued that all colonists, be they black or white, deserved freedom and that American colonies, being the larger, could not revolve around the smaller England. This was the earliest clamor for independence. In that same year, Oxenbridge Thatcher wrote a pamphlet, ‘The Sentiments of a British American’ which furthered the arguments put forward by Otis such as taxation without representation. At that time however, there were very few radicals in support of independence. In 1764, several acts came into place. First, the British monarchy attempted to seize control of the America’s economy by putting into place the Currency Act which outlawed the printing of all money in the colonies and further nullified all the America-printed money. Secondly, the Sugar Act, which ensured colonists were taxed for sugar, coffee, wine and indigo, came into force. This was a means of the British Government to earn revenue so as to recover from the losses of the French-Indian War. This angered both merchants due to the arbitrary searches and other colonists since they were being taxed without representation. Several other pamphlets were published such as ‘The Right of Colonies Examined’ by Stephen Hopkins and ‘The Pennsylvania Gazette’ written by Benjamin Franklin. In March 1765, the Stamp Act came into force which required all colonists to buy a stamp wheneve r a document was to be printed. The colonies however revolted and the British Government responded by publishing the Declaratory Act in which total control of the colonies was expressed. In June 1765, the intolerable Quartering Act was published. It required colonists to pay and supply vital necessities to the British troops. This highly increased unrest especially as the army was deemed incompetent after the loss in the Chief Pontiac’s Rebellion. The anonymous publication of John Dickinson's ‘Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania, to the Inhabitants of the British Colonies’ in December 1767 awakened the colonists as to how the British Monarchy was hurting the colonies. In 1768, 4000 soldiers were dispatched to quell unrest though they served to fuel unrest even the more. This resulted in the Boston Massacre during which five people died. In July 1772, the situation blew over. Colonists were deeply angered by various Intolerable acts such as the Sugar Act which was strictly being enforced such that smuggling was impossible serving to anger the merchants the more. The ultimate Intoloretable act was the 1773 British Tea Act which gave the British East India Company the exclusive rights to import tea from the colonies, barring the merchant’s businesses. In response, the merchants organized the Boston Tea Party in which the entire tea cargo aboard a British ship was dumped into sea. The British Government respo nded by cancelling Massachusetts right of self-governance through the Massachusetts Government Act. In 1774, the colonists met under the Continental Congress so as to discuss on how Britain was oppressing the colonies. They resolved to stop all imports and put an end to slave trade. All merchants were not to raise prices or continue trading with Britain after the first of December. This was signed by the Congress president, Peyton Randolph which greatly infuriated the British Government. In March 1775, Parliament passed the New England Restraining Act that forced all merchants to trade with no other country except Britain hence restricting trade. Further, Parliament passed the Boston Port Act so as to force colonists to pay for losses incurred due to the Boston Tea Party. The colonialists were barred from entering the harbor but gravely accelerated the need for independence. This served as the start of the American Revolution and its utter success in 1783. This marked the onset of a radical clamor for change and the resultant unification of thirteen states which declared their independence from Britain in response to the acts of tyranny and the Intolerable Acts by the British. Â   : Axelrod, Alan. The Real History of the American Revolution: A New Look at the Past. 2009. Bailyn, Bernard. The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1992. Jensen, Merrill. The Founding of a Nation: a History of the American Revolution, 1763–1776. Indianapolis, Indiana: Hackett Publishing Company, 2004.- . The New Nation: a History of the United States during the Confederation, 1781-1789. . New York : Random House Inc., 1950. Rdude. "Events Leading to the American Revolution." 19 Februaury 2002. Everything2. 16 November 2010