American states’-rights parties invoked individual freedom while defending intermediate circles.

Evidence

Given this formulation, we can explain phenomena that would seem to disconfirm the correlation at issue here, one of which is the following from the history of the United States. The Anti-Federalist party, which first called itself the Republicans, then the Whigs, then the Democrats, defended the autonomy and the sovereignty of the states at the expense of centralization and of national authority—but always with an appeal to the principle of individual freedom, of noninterference by the totality in the affairs of the individual. On no account does this contradict the relationship of individual freedom to just the relatively large circle, for here the sense of individuality has permeated the narrower circle enclosing many individual persons, and thus the narrower circle serves here the same sociological function as the discrete individual would otherwise. — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 633

Categorization

• XREF: A concrete historical instance of the ‘narrower circle assuming the social function of the individual’—useful counterpoint to the reader’s blasé/civil-inattention argument about the middle being the zone of indifference. — connects to: Early Americans did not separate individual rights from federalism limits on power. — Philip Chase Bobbitt, Reflections Inspired by My Critics, 214; The local community functioned as an individual against the state — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 682; Antibusing activists reframed opposition to desegregation as defense of individual liberty against state coercion. — Matthew D. Lassiter, The Suburban Origins of “Color-Blind”…, 58 (+1 more)
• SHARE: The states’-rights lineage (Anti-Federalist→Republican→Whig→Democrat) all appealing to individual freedom is a nice political-history nugget for a politics-minded friend.

Related

• The local community functioned as an individual against the state (similarity 0.80)
• Early Americans did not separate individual rights from federalism limits on power. (similarity 0.80)

Broader Connections

• Early Americans did not separate individual rights from federalism limits on power. #corroborates (0.70) — Philip Chase Bobbitt, Reflections Inspired by My Critics, 214
• The local community functioned as an individual against the state #expands (0.60) — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 682