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& the . William Leggett. LocofocoParadigm. By: Anthony Comegna. Overview. Leggett & his Locofocos Leggett’s Thought: Democracy Radical Anti-monopoly Radical Laissez-faire Radical antislavery The Locofoco Paradigm Conclusion. Leggett & His Locofocos. - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
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William Leggett
By: Anthony Comegna
& the
Locofoco Paradigm
Overview
• Leggett & his Locofocos• Leggett’s Thought:– Democracy– Radical Anti-monopoly– Radical Laissez-faire– Radical antislavery
• The Locofoco Paradigm• Conclusion
Leggett & His Locofocos• Jacksonian editor of
the New York Evening Post.
• Undisputed intellectual founder of the Locofoco Party.
• Locofoco=friction match
• Party platform: equity under the law, or “Equal Rights.”
Leggett’s Thought: Democracy
• Not an end in itself, but a means to greater liberty
• Politicians, too, are mere means, not ends
• Democracy is incompatible with managed markets and slavery
Leggett’s Thought: Anti-Monopoly• Opposed the granting of
corporate charters• Opposed public enterprises
(public ferries, docks, wharves, piers, schools, asylums, coinage, banking, etc.)
• Worst Monopoly: National & State Banks!
• Opposed “Intellectual Property”
Leggett’s Thought: Laissez-faire!• Direct Taxes• Absolute minimum (i.e.
practically no) government regulation of the market
• Free Banking!!!• Private coinage• Radical localism—care for
the poor, sick, and uneducated
Leggett’s Thought: Antislavery
• Began writing career as lukewarm slavery apologist
• Steady radicalization• Culminated in:– Immediatism– Favored Enfranchisement– Northern Abolitionism(!)
The Locofoco Paradigm
• An intellectual-political movement favoring free markets, liberty-expanding politics, and antislavery activism
• Directly Formulated by William Leggett• Extended, through Leggett, from the Locofoco
party of NY into the Van Buren administration• Directly led to the Jacksonian creation of the
Free Soil party in the wake of the 1844 election.
Conclusion: Paradigmatic Clashes & Historical Consequences
• Election of 1844—Calhounism v. Van Burenism• An electoral triumph for the quasi-free market,
pro-slavery Calhounist paradigm• Split the Democrat and Whig parties, creating the
Free Soil Party.• Free Soil agitation ignited North-South conflicts
over slavery• Free Soilers spill into Republican ranks…• 600,000+ dead