How Did John Locke Influence The Government Of The United States

Enlightenment ideals spreading through exchanges, popularised new concepts of divine rights, republican ideologies, and the rejection of inherited authority such as a monarch. Political activists such as the radical Patriot and member of the Sons of Liberty Samuel Adams began speaking to the people these new radical ideas feeling that men were free and that therefore they were not subjects of any king. Patriots such Samuel Adams in an effort to rally the American people applied Enlightenment ideas in an effort to support the growing independence movement. Ideas than can be simplified to the statement that “all people have the right to life liberty and the pursuit of property” later penned in the Declaration of Independence. Thomas Paine in the American Crisis further shows these radical ideals through his strong use of diction calling for independence from britain(Doc 7).

The foundation and nature of the American government has been greatly inspired by political philosophers. Forrest McDonald analyzes the ideas of these philosophers in chapter three of "The American Presidency: An Intellectual History. " Of all the political philosophers, John Locke contributed the most ideas that we're put to use by the framers of the American government. Locke writes the "Two Treatises of Government", which is later studied by the framers and influences their prospective towards the creation of the Constitution. Throughout writing the Constitution, the framers acknowledge significant ideas introduced by John Locke.

There are forgotten pieces of history that must have shaped what the United States of America is today. The people who kept George Washington alive when he was little and how they did it have been forgotten by most. Some of the less obvious inspirations John Locke had and what caused them have been lost. Even some of his meaning is lost in his writing. These things helped to make America and its government the way they are today.

The founding of the constitution for America was founded on a number of ideas such as the Magna Carta, English Bill of Rights, Declaration of Independence, Virginia Bill of Rights and Articles of Confederation. Not only were these documents a key part to the forming of the constitution, but also the philosophies of those such as Locke and Montesquieu. The impact on the world around America at that time also made a huge impact. The influences from British government that lead the revolt for America’s independence. America was formed by so many different influences, ideas and philosophies that we are able to see that in our Constitution.

Much of the American Government used today comes from fellow philosophers who with their help; helped put our country in order. John Locke proposed that humans are born with natural right laws; Declaration of Independence, Preamble to the United States Constitution, Representative Government (Republic) and Limits

America is a country whose ideals are based on freedom and democracy. However these ideas are not original, in fact many of the common ideas found in the Constitution and Declaration of Independence resemble the writings of people in the past. Even early documents pivotal to American independence such as Common Sense by Thomas Paine and the Virginia Declaration of Independence can be traced down to these early documents. The age of enlightenment brought several philosophers with new ideas, such as John Locke, Baron de Montesquieu, and Jean Jacques Rousseau. The works of these men helped to inspire a new way of thinking, towards freedom and democracy, the founding fathers embraced these ideas.

John Locke was a philosopher, and political scientist. He believed democracy was a considerably better form of government than a monarchy. Thomas Jefferson was the third U.S. president, and was one of America’s founding fathers. He was the author of the Declaration of Independence, and played a key role in the institution of the United States of America. John Locke was a very influential person when it came to Thomas Jefferson and the ideas within the Declaration of Independence.

Locke had stated that when an executive act for his own benefit, and not to serve the ends of the people. He “degrades himself” and becomes “but a single private person without power,” at which point he no longer has any right to rule over the people. Locke expresses the idea of rebellion against an unjust government. By giving the idea of rebellion, he also reveals that a human’s rights have changed over the years and that a man now has inherent rights. It was because of his declaration that the statement, “give me liberty or give me death,” become popular among the American people.

• Thomas used Aristotle’s view of natural law to justify the authority of the Roman Catholic Church in political as well as religious matters. For the purpose of explaining the fundamental reasons of law he used Aristotle’s philosophy and added the use of an eternal ruler. John Locke • John Locke had a distinct influence on the writers of the American Constitution by advocating for human rights and liberty through democracy. In saying so, he believed that the mass majority of ordinary people can be capable of giving consent to their governor/ruler as opposed to the Monarch government. However if the ruler did not comply with the needs of the people, Locke believed that the public had the justified right to rebel.

John Locke wrote the Second Treatise of Government in 1689 following many civil wars in Europe. James Harrington was arrested for his writing five years after he wrote Oceana in 1656. Both of these men’s ideas concerning the structure and purpose of government proved to be particularly influential in creating The Constitution and The Bill of Rights. John Locke influenced the Constitution by explaining that each individual in a society is born with natural rights and we give up part of these rights to gain better protection. The Second Treatise says, “The only way whereby any one divests himself of his natural liberty, and puts on the bonds of civil society, is by agreeing with other men to join and unite into a community for their comfortable, safe, and peaceable living one amongst another, in a secure enjoyment of their properties, and a greater security against any, that are not of it” (Locke 46).

The ideas of the Enlightenment influenced the American Revolution and the formation of the American Government. Firstly, The Enlightenment was a philosophical evolution that emphasized the aged ideas of the Greeks and Romans. In addition, the major philosophers of this time period were Voltaire, John Locke, Thomas Hobbes, Rousseau, Adam Smith and Isaac Newton. Their ideals include having an absolute monarch as a government (T.H), the separation of powers (Mont.), the government should not interfere with a free market economy (A.S), the freedom of speech (Volt.), the government could be overruled (J.L), and the government should rule according to the will of the people. Nevertheless, these ideals are important because they shaped the government that we have today.

He also imprisoned anyone he wanted without doing trials and controlled people’s right to speak. None of these restrictions were close to Locke’s meaning of a government. Locke defended that a government should protect the rights of the people because every man have rights to life, liberty, and property. He then stated that if a government fail to do so, it can be revolted

Summary Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) theory of social contract, which states that we need moral, legal rules because we want to escape the state of nature which is solitary, poor, brutal, nasty, and short. In this state, a man can kill others, and there are limited resources. This can soon lead to a state of war in which we are constantly disposed to harm others to achieve our goals. So, in this state of war if a person was to possess a beautiful house or property, and had all the comforts, luxuries, and amenities to lead a wonderful life; others could come and harm him and deprive him of his fruit of labor, life, and liberty. Therefore, the state of nature is that of fear, violence, and distrust.

First of all, the social contract theory, is the view that persons ' moral and political obligations are dependent upon a contract or agreement among them to form the society in which they live. This means that in order to live in a good society people must follow established rules and not act on their own natural state. This social contract theory is associated with modern moral and political theory and is given its by Thomas Hobbes. Hobbes, John Locke and Jean-Jacques Rousseau are the best known proponents of this enormously influential theory. A little bit of background of Thomas Hobbes, he born in 1588 and died in 1679,he also lived during the most crucial period of early modern England 's history.

Hobbes was an English philosopher, known through out the world as the author of “Leviathan” which is regarded as one of the earliest examples of the social contract theory. His writings were greatly influenced by the