The Origin, Tendencies and Principles of Government

In post-Civil War America, the newly freed slaves had the right to vote, but women—regardless of their race—did not. In this era, Victoria Claflin Woodhull came of age politically, and was one of the leading lights in the fight for true equal rights. The first woman to testify before Congress, the first to be nominated for President (in 1872, by the Equal Rights Party), and one of the first to own her own brokerage house on Wall Street, she had very definite ideas about how to improve the lives of Americans in general and women in particular.

This volume, originally published in 1871, was a collection of her writings related to the concept of government, what it was and ought to be. Those writings, which appeared frequently in newspapers of the time, as well as the entirety of the book, served as Woodhull’s campaign platform, and garnered some interesting editorials (one of which is included).

The full title of the book, which delves into the author’s thinking on the subject is: The Origin, Tendencies and Principles of Government: or, A Review of the Rise and Fall of Nations from early historic time to the present; with Special Considerations Regarding the Future of The United States as the Representative Government of the World and the Form of administration which will secure this consummation. Also, papers on human equality, as represented by labor and its representative, money; and the meaning and significance of life from a scientific standpoint, with its prophecies for the great future.

Contents include: “God in Creation, History and Government,” “Constitution of the United States,” “First Pronunciamento,” “A Review of the General Situation,” “Second Pronunciamento,” “The Tendencies of Government,” “Woman’s Idea of Government,” “Limits and Sphere of Government,” “The Principles of Government,” “Papers on Labor and Capital,” “Papers on Finance and Commerce,” “Basis of Physical Life,” and “Tendencies and Prophecies of the Present Age.”