Benckendorfite Progressivism

Radical Liberalism

Anti-Imperialism

Expansionism and Interventionism

**Benckendorfite Progressivism** is a liberal doctrine originated from the works and articles of George Benckendorf and further developed by him and his political allies over the years. It emphasizes liberal ideas of rights of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed, political equality and equality before the law, as well as fighting corruption and speculation. Economically, the doctrine advocates for development of manufacturing through protection and new markets, internal improvements, as well as encouraging of settlement on the Frontier and selling of unpopulated territories to homesteaders.

## Origins and Development

The doctrine has been formed by George Benckendorf, according to him, "around the time when the Constitution was signed, and the partisan divide was formed". However, the elements have been seen in Benckendorf's policy as President of Pennsylvania, and his articles before the Constitution has been signed.

In 1788, Benckendorf and Alexander Islington have published an article in The Philadelphia Tribune, debunking arguments of the anti-federalists and promoting a federal system to replace the Articles of Confederation.

Initially, it has been his personal beliefs of support to the Constitution, strong economy and a standing army, combined with Jeffersonian anti-elitism and support of the settlement of the Frontier, which have led to foundation of the Constitutional Democratic Party as an alternative to the Federalists and Jeffersonian Republicans, who were both, in his opinion, "representing moneyed interests of the elite, be it slaveowners of the South or merchants of Massachusetts or New York". Support of Hamiltonian economics, however, led to him gaining support of many prominent Federalists in the 1788/1789 election, before they went with their own party, remaining in a coalition, however, to counter the southern anti-federalist bloc. This led to significant criticism of Benckendorf by the newspapers, and the Freedom Party. "Not wanting to betray the principles I never followed and facing attacks for, allegedly, following them," he, in 1795, has published a work *Principles of Constitutional Democracy*, providing a more clear definition of the ideology. However, the term has been eventually forgotten and replaced by his supporters in favor of the one that links George Benckendorf to these ideas.

In 1801, George Benckendorf has been elected President of the United States. Throughout his tenure he stood for radical Unionism, expansion of the military, homesteads, abolitionism, equal rights and Hamiltonian economics, which further fleshed out the ideology. The conclusion of such has been published by the former President in 1828 in his book *Means for a brighter Union,* which has been essential in adapting Benckendorfite ideals to the post-Civil war era.

## Key positions

### Federalism

According to Benckendorf, the Confederation period and the Shays' Rebellion have proven that a mostly decentralized government does not prevent tyranny from happening on local level, and instead leads to slow removal of ties between the states, which puts existence of the entire existence of the Union under question. Since the Constitutional convention he advocates for a strong Federal government, capable of enforcing the Constitution and Federal law, acting as a force which ensures cooperation and unity among the United States while preventing local corruption and dictatorship of the majority or oligarchy from being established. In order to be capable of playing such a role, Benckendorf supports a strong standing army and a "small, but sufficient" Federal law enforcement agency to prevent Federal legislation from losing force in cases where the states refuse to enforce it. Needless to say, he opposes providing states with the powers of seccession or nullification.

### American School and colonisation of the Frontier

In his work, Benckendorf states that the Urban-Rural struggle is rather social, emphasizing the importance of both in the modern era. According to him, strong manufacturing and commerce are essential for any major nation, and for this reason he opposes the policy of Free trade, which would, supposedly, make the United States more dependent on Britain, and instead advocates for "Judicious tariffs" that would protect manufacturing and help pay down the public debt while not harming the average citizen with high prices, which is considered a move towards elitism.

For the purpose of fighting land speculation, he advocates for a tax on the value of land, which should disincentivize it.

Benckendorf openly supports Federal programs to develop infrastructure across the nation, and especially in the Frontier, which would, in his opinion, benefit the entire union, helping the development of urban commerce, the farmers, settlement of the frontier, and the Army, emphasizing necessity of strong infrastructure in case of war.

Benckendorf in his works advocates for a national currency regulated by a semi-independent National Bank, and emphasizes the benefits of hard money in international trade.

Development of the Frontier is, in fact, one of the key parts of Benckendorf's ideology. He states that expansion and colonization of unsettled land is necessary for strengthening of the United States as a whole. He supports selling the Frontier land to homesteaders, yeomen and the lower classes, which would, supposedly, promote equality by lowering influence of the big manufacturers and planters, while helping the poor and improving the economy overall. He thinks that a compromise can be reached with the natives which would allow Americans to settle. He also thinks that the government must follow the treaties set with the Indians, and that it should act aggressively if such treaties were violated by the latter.

### Radical Liberalism

The key difference between the Federalists and Benckendorfites lies in the matters of social equality and philosophy.

In his work, Benckendorf states his support for the ideas of liberal philosophers, including rights of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed, political, social equality and equality before the law. He writes further that the United States should, for the sake of democracy, provide universal suffrage and equal rights for all people, as he did while being President of Pennsylvania. Since the Presidency of George Benckendorf was well-known for the Reconstruction Amendments and Civil Rights Act of 1805, which abolished slavery, gave women and minorities the right to vote, as well as lifted the property limit and protected these rights by the law, equal rights for citizens has become one of the integral parts of Benckendorfite Progressivism, even though native american rights remained a topic for debates among its authors.

George Benckendorf has written about the need to fight corruption and growing influence of both urban and rural elite for preservation of true democracy, and for that reason endorsed measures such as ethics code, punishment for bribery and corruption, a tax on value of the land (to disincentivize land speculation) and regulations on private banks. He also stated that the growing influence of political machines and hereditary societies which influence American politics, such as Tammany Hall and Society of the Cincinnati, writing about their "corrupting influence on development of Democracy" and "attempts to form a new aristocracy", and calling for measures to tackle them.

### Anti-Imperialism and Expansionism

Benckendorf, in his work, stated the need for the United States to become a force which would take monarchism and oligarchy out of the Americas, and turn it into a shining beacon of freedom for the rest of the world. He also states need of assistance of other democratic regimes across the globe and interference on their behalf against the oppressor states, in order to expand the rights of all people no matter the country.

While opposing feudal and despotic regimes of the Old World, Benckendorfites do not oppose expansionism itself. The contrary, George Benckendorf has said that expansion of the United States is necessary for preservation of its existence, and that it should expand its territory whenever feasible and whenever the United States is prepared to do so, to eventually reach the borders at the very least "from coast to coast, and, from the Island of Grenada, all the way up north.". According to him, it will not only expand the frontier, but make the United States a great nation for centuries to come, however he repeated that the pursue of expansion should not hurt the United States itself.

Such foreign policy ideas, however, are not shared by a decent part of allies of Benckendorf, as people such as Alexander Islington have publicly stated their support for a more pragmatic and neutral foreign policy.