The Key Of Liberty By William Manning Thesis

So few people these days truly understand the political chaos that happened in the early days of the United States. One man named William Manning, a farmer who became enveloped in the ever shifting political landscape, recognized this split in society, especially when it came to how much influence people like him had in policy. Seeing this disparity prompted Manning to construct The Key of Liberty, a series of writings explaining his views on society, critique of the current policies and the role that many ordinary Americans were denied in the democratic system. While we don’t know much about what most people back then thought of early America, we can see through Manning’s lens that the struggle for democracy still had not made its way to the

After becoming an adult, serving in the revolutionary war, and realizing how little say people in his class had, Manning made a distinction about how society was structured to benefit some more than most. He then began to write, The Key of Liberty, about this disparity calling himself and other workers “the many” and elite, rich businessmen “the few,” distinguishing between total populations of each group. Manning introduced the concept of “the few” possessing more power and influence over politicians than “the many” who voted for them. With an educational, economical and influential advantage, Manning could only wonder: “How could the well-being of the Many be secured constitutionally against the self-interested manipulations of the Few” (Manning, p. 58). Manning knew the laws in early America were heavily against protections for workers and helped businesses rake in record profits. That divide is where he began his political

He calls this list of remedies a “constitutional, cheap, easy, and sure method of conveying necessary knowledge among the Many” (Manning, p. 159). Described on this list are a list of demands that allow the Many to obtain knowledge of everything needed to succeed in a democracy including the difference of ideas, principles of democracy, laws, elections and new laws, political candidates and national debates both in government and among his peers. He then proceeds to propose the idea of a “Society of the Many” or laborers to help bring this idea into fruition. The goal of this establishment is to teach and inform those without much knowledge of democracy about how the republican system works and how their vote can influence their daily