(Recorded Course) Hilaire Belloc's Servile State with Phillip Campbell

How to get the most out of Hilaire Belloc's Servile State with Phillip Campbell:

  • First, read the course details below.

  • Prepare a notebook for note-taking and homework.

  • Students begin the course by clicking on the "Recording" and watching the instructor's lecture for Class One.

  • Complete the Week One Activities.

  • If you need review, go back and watch the recording again and/or go over the Powerpoint.

  • Repeat until all classes are complete.

  • Once the course is completed to the parent's satisfaction, there is a Certificate of Completion at the end to be filled in for your records. Homeschool Connections does not provide record keeping.

Total classes: 10
Duration: (per class) 10-25 minutes
Prerequisite: None
Suggested grade level: 11-12
Suggested credit: 1-semester Literature
Instructor: Mr. Phillip Campbell

Course description:  Join Mr. Campbell as he guides students through Hilaire Belloc's classic 1912 essay, The Servile State. Written to address the appalling poverty of Industrial England in the early 20th century, Belloc's book weaves a poignant argument that the excesses of Capitalism (as well as the attempts to remedy them through collectivist Socialism) will lead ultimately to the reintroduction of legalized slavery, The Servile State.  

Course outline:

Week 1: Introduction of the Book and Core Concepts
Week 2: Defining Belloc's Terms
Week 3: Slavery as the Foundational Institution of Pagan Europe
Week 4: How Christianity Aboloshed Slavery
Week 5: England's Transition to Capitalism
Week 6: Belloc's Theory of Inherenrly Unstable Capitalism
Week 7: Socialism, Property, or Slavery
Week 8: The Aims of Reformers
Week 9: Towards a Servile State
Week 10: Observations and Critiques of Belloc's Thought

Course materials: The Servile State (Recommend the Cavalier Books edition from 2018, ISBN 978-1948231053)

Homework: Each week students will need to read an assigned portion of the textbook and watch a 10-25 minute video lecture on the subject matter. They will complete an automated quiz and complete reflection questions based on the concepts of the readings. The estimated commitment per week is 2 hours.