One thing is clear. Charles Carroll was a Whig. This was something of a surprise, although I am not sure why. The American Founders where Whigs to a man. Some were Old Whigs, some were New Whigs, but all were Whigs. This was a fascinating realization for a Covenanter who normally identifies the 17th and 18th Century English Catholic tradition with the Cavalier and the Jacobite.
I should have known better. I have long told anyone who would listen that the origins of 17th Century Scottish Covenanter thought were heavily influenced by the Spanish Jesuits de Mariana and Suarez. The same Spanish Jesuits who Brad tells us helped form the young mind of Charles Carroll.
Interestingly, on page 137 Brad illuminates the intellectual sources of Carroll’s 1780 three-part article in the Maryland Gazette, the republican statesman drew upon the works of Livy, Blackstone, Nicolo Machiavelli, John Milton, Hugo Grotius, Thomas Rutherford, and Emmerich de Vattel, claiming each as his authorities.” My question is this- who is Thomas Rutherford? I have googled in vain. Have I missed something? Or was this a typographic error? My suspicion (hope?) is that Carroll’s source was none other than the Covenanter Samuel Rutherford of Lex Rex fame.
