Librarian+for+Oceana

The Commonwealth of Oceana was written by an English writer named James Harrington. Harrington was born to good family with ancestors of great importance. He attended Trinity College in Oxford in 1629, and gained more knowledge of the world from his travels. //The Commonwealth of Oceana// was first published in late 1656, with Harrington’s ideas of a Utopia called “Oceana” (Wiki). A man named Hugh Francis Russell-Smith wrote a book, //Harrington and His Oceana//, explaining his thoughts of //The Commonwealth of Oceana//. In The Commonwealth of Oceana, Harrington explains his views on politics. His views are broken down into two main ideas: “(i) The preservation of a state depends on the possession of an adequate proportion of the land by the ruling class, (ii) Government cannot remain pure and healthy without the assistance of four mechanical contrivances — the ballot, indirect election, rotation, and a system of two chambers in which the functions of debating and voting are kept separate” (Russell-Smith). Harrington believed in the idea of equal land distribution, and a government controlled by the people. By a ballot he meant that everyone would have a secret vote that would be counted (Russell-Smith). Indirect election meant, “a process in which voters in an election do not actually choose between candidates for an office but rather elect persons who will then make the choice” ("Indirect"). Rotation meant that the leaders would be switched out frequently, and debating and voting were considered two separate activities (Russell-Smith). According to Russell-Smith, the military was fully explained by Harrington in his text. He believed that the men in the military should be elected by the people. Their time in the military is explained in this passage:

//They are elected for one year, and are ineligible for a second year's service without a vacation. They are themselves elected in theparishes, and they elect their officers at the hundreds. The men were not allowed to serve a second term in the military without a vacation in-between. When men over thirty choose to join the military the most unfit youth is dropped: ‘Men over thirty are to be encouraged to come forward for active service as ‘ volunteers,’ in which case the unfittest of the youth are to be dismissed to keep the numbers right.// (Harrington qtd in Russell-Smith)

The military was restricted to a curtain amount of men. If a man decided to join the military, another man would be removed to keep the numbers straight. Another main idea Harrington explains is education. He believes in the idea of a great amount of education. Russell-Smith says,

//He proposed in the first place to scatter the colleges about the country, and in the second place entirely to alter the course of studies, introducing modern languages, law, agriculture, economics, chemistry, art, English, military studies, dancing, fencing and (lastly) travel, in the hopes of making "learning more pleasant and acceptable to gentlemen" and "stocking the Nation with a more able and learned gentry for the service of the Commonwealth than heretofore it hath been.”// Harrington believed greatly the idea of learning through travels. After their conclusion of education at the age of eighteen, careers were chosen (Russell-Smith).

James Harrington explains hundreds of ideas he believes are needed to create a perfect Utopia in //The Commonwealth of Oceana//. A man was actually given the job of creating Oceana: “It was dedicated to the Protector, who was given the formidable task of converting England into Oceana and retiring into private life at the conclusion of his work, to die at the ripe age of one hundred and sixteen” (Russell-Smith). Works Cited "The Commonwealth of Oceana." Wikipedia. 15 Oct. 2008    .

"Indirect Election." Wikipedia. 15 Oct. 2008    .

Russell-Smith, Hugh. Harrington and His Oceana. Berkeley, CA: University P, 1914. 1-223.

Posted by Urras