Freedom: Sharon and Port Hurom Statement
How did the young conservatives who wrote the Sharon Statement understand freedom?
The Young Americans for Freedom was from a conservative point of view. It affirmed they considered to an affirmation of God’s’ will, affirming their beliefs in individual free will and liberty; the inextricable bond between economic freedom; the purpose of the government protecting freedom through preservation of internal order, national defense, and the administration of justice; the genius of the Constitution (especially the clause reserving power of the states); and the market economy as the single system compatible with freedom . . .Communism is named as the named as the greatest threat to democracy. (1) Despite the libertarians eventually being forced out from the YAF, the “Sharon Statement” shows how the core of the libertarians influences the Statement. The Statement appealed to the various Conservative factions by staying with narrow boundaries.(2)
The YAF supported the war in Vietnam, seeing it was a fight against communism. The YAF would also be against negotiations of any kind with any communist country. “That the forces of international communism are, at present, the greatest threat to these liberties; that the United States should stress victory over, rather than coexistence with this menace.”(3) It would appear from a simple reading of the statement that the conservative YAF would oppose the Civil Rights Movement since following their reasoning, it would have been an issue to be left to individual states since the federal government should not interfere with the business of individual states. William Buckley, one of the authors of the Statement was very open being an opponent to the Civil Rights Movement. It seemed to want to secure the freedom of white people, but not blacks. (4) “The central question that emerges … is whether the White community in the South is entitled to take such measures as are necessary to prevail, politically and culturally, in
The Young Americans for Freedom was from a conservative point of view. It affirmed they considered to an affirmation of God’s’ will, affirming their beliefs in individual free will and liberty; the inextricable bond between economic freedom; the purpose of the government protecting freedom through preservation of internal order, national defense, and the administration of justice; the genius of the Constitution (especially the clause reserving power of the states); and the market economy as the single system compatible with freedom . . .Communism is named as the named as the greatest threat to democracy. (1) Despite the libertarians eventually being forced out from the YAF, the “Sharon Statement” shows how the core of the libertarians influences the Statement. The Statement appealed to the various Conservative factions by staying with narrow boundaries.(2)
The YAF supported the war in Vietnam, seeing it was a fight against communism. The YAF would also be against negotiations of any kind with any communist country. “That the forces of international communism are, at present, the greatest threat to these liberties; that the United States should stress victory over, rather than coexistence with this menace.”(3) It would appear from a simple reading of the statement that the conservative YAF would oppose the Civil Rights Movement since following their reasoning, it would have been an issue to be left to individual states since the federal government should not interfere with the business of individual states. William Buckley, one of the authors of the Statement was very open being an opponent to the Civil Rights Movement. It seemed to want to secure the freedom of white people, but not blacks. (4) “The central question that emerges … is whether the White community in the South is entitled to take such measures as are necessary to prevail, politically and culturally, in
References: 1 Foner,, Eric. Voices of Freedom, from Americans for Freedom,” The Sharon Statement” (September (1960) p. 1058. W.W.Norton & Company, Inc; New York (2011) at p.1058 2 www.The Voice Immitator (September, 2009) 3 Klatch, Rebecca. University of California Press; 1 edition (October 20, 1999) 4 The Voice Immitator (September, 2009) 5 Buckley, William. “ Why the South Must Prevail” National Review (8/24/1957) 6 Hayden, Tom and Others 11 “Port Huron Statement of the Students for a Democratic Society” (1962), p.30 12 “The Sharon Statement” adopted in conference at Sharon, Connecticut on 11 September 1960