Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!” This famous quote by Patrick Henry clearly states that he thought that liberty was the most important thing we were fighting for in the Revolutionary war. If liberty was what our country fought for in the revolution then we should uphold it now, and the best way to do that is popular sovereignty in our government, another idea our country was founded on.
Hello, my name is Mark Compton and I will be your affirmative speaker for this round. As the affirmative speaker I will be asking you to affirm the resolution which states as follows: A government’s legitimacy is determined more by its respect for popular sovereignty than individual rights. Before I begin my arguments I would like to present you with a few definitions:
Government - the system by which a nation, state, or community is governed. – Oxford Online Dictionary
Legitimacy – in accordance with recognized or accepted standards or principles. – Princeton’s Online Dictionary
Popular Sovereignty - a doctrine in political theory that government is created by and subject to the will of the people. – Merriam Webster Dictionary
Individual - a single human being, as distinguished from a group. - Dictionary.com
Right - a just claim or title, whether legal, prescriptive, or moral. – Dictionary.com
My value for this round is Liberty. My criterion, or way to achieve my value, is popular sovereignty. I have chosen this criterion because if the will of the majority has the right to choose the leaders than they will choose leaders that will give them liberty.
Contention 1: Legitimacy and Government
Popular sovereignty is the consent of the governed in a government and self-government because the people have control of the government. These things provide liberty for the people under the government because they are in control. “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” This quote from the Declaration of Independence states that all men have a right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. This means that all men deserve liberty. Then if all men deserve liberty, it is an accepted principle or standard to provide men with liberty. Popular sovereignty provides men with liberty better than any other form of government. Meaning a government by popular sovereignty is one that is in accordance with accepted principle or standards, making a government by popular sovereignty legitimate.
Contention 2: Popular Sovereignty achieves Liberty and Legitimacy
“For in reason, all government without the consent of the governed is the very definition of slavery.” – Jonathan Swift - Irish satirist, essayist, political pamphleteer. This quote shows that without the consent of the majority a government cannot be legitimate or have liberty. Without the consent of the people a government is essentially oppressing the governed people. When the people have the vote, they will choose what’s best for them, unlike the people in the government that do not know what the common people want. So popular sovereignty, which has the consent of the majority, achieves liberty and legitimacy through the consent of the people.
Conclusion: A legitimate government is one that has the consent of the people, which can be achieved through popular sovereignty, and liberty also comes with popular sovereignty. Liberty and popular sovereignty were the two ideas our country was founded on. When men like George Washington, Patrick Henry, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson all meet and discuss how they want their country to be run they were thinking of popular sovereignty, democracy, and liberty. These well educated men were thinking about whether their government was going to be legitimate and with that thought they decided on popular sovereignty. The United States government has lasted since 1787 and never failed its people once in that time.
