It is understood that John Locke played a key role of influence on Thomas Jefferson. This influence can be seen through Jefferson’s writing on the nation’s founding document. This document is called the Declaration of Independence. John Locke, the English Enlightenment philosopher wrote his Two Treatises of Government to refute the belief that kings ruled by divine right and to support the Glorious Revolution of 1688 (Doc 1). This piece of political philosophy provided many explanations for the people’s rights and obligations to overthrow a corrupt government. Specifically, Locke’s ideas from his Two Treatises of Government heavily influenced Thomas Jefferson’s rationale for the propriety of America’s separation from England by expressing a great deal in the right to change the government, human rights trust and strong legislative.
All individuals are created equal. This is one of the many ideas the United States is built on. This concept existed long before the Declaration of Independence was written. This idea was introduced by John Locke who was an Enlightenment thinker. The declaration of Independence is where Americans declared their rights. Thomas Jefferson, the man who wrote the Declaration of Independence was greatly influenced by the philosopher John Locke. Locke believed that humans had natural rights, that power comes from the people and all men are equal, and these beliefs can be found in Jefferson’s writings.
The age of the Enlightenment was driven by three ideologies: individualism, relativism, and rationalism. Individualism emphasized the idea of all humans having sufficient rights in society, which affected the general perception of authority. Relativism focused on how all religions, cultures, and values deserved an equal amount of credibility, which led to a change in international policies. Rationalism identified that man could discover the answer to anything by using reasoning, which caused a stronger development of human philosophy. Together, these three beliefs were the underpinnings of the Enlightenment.
The Enlightenment, also known as the “Age of Reason,” occurred in the eighteenth century and was a period in which ideas concerning God, nature, reason and humanity were combined, and these ideas instigated revolutionary developments in art, philosophy, and politics. The Enlightenment was crucial in determining aspects in terms of politics, government, and religion. Enlightenment thinkers such as John Locke, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and Charles Montesquieu influenced the Founding Fathers and their ideas were found in the Declaration of Independence.
John Locke was a philosopher and political scientist. He had many interests and produced a number of writings that influenced future leaders. One of these leaders was Thomas Jefferson, who was involved with the aid of America and the act gaining independence from Britain. The Declaration of Independence and Locke’s views on government contain many similar aspects. These ideas includes the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness (natural rights); the protection that is provided by the government for these rights; and the altering or abolishment of government if it fails to provide and protect the rights of the people. There may also be some differentiating ideas regarding these two sources. An example of this may be that, even though Jefferson and Locke agreed that the people should be able to overthrow the government if their rights were encroached upon, Hobbes believed that this would lead to a state of nature, which wouldn’t end greatly.
Locke’s ideas from the Two Treatises of Government and An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, were based upon the natural rights where power comes from the people. Both of his pieces contributed to revolutions, most importantly the American Revolution as power from monarchies was removed and democracies were created. Allowed for limited government power and all obligations were to the citizens. An Essay Concerning Human Understanding basis was on how the knowledge existence of God, certain moral truths, and laws of logic or mathematics pertained to the natural rights of
There was tension, blood, and tears with the Thirteen Colonies and Great Britain. This was due to the American Revolution that started in 1765 and ended in 1783. So how revolutionary was the American revolutionary war? Well, first what does revolutionary mean? Revolutionary means that things have changed dramatically. In that case, the American Revolution was very revolutionary because there were political, social, and economic changes. Wealthy people lost their money, there was a new government, it made citizens question slavery, and certainly more freedom for the Americans.
Many of his thoughts and principles were studied and adopted by the founders of the United States and are evident in documents, just like the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. Locke emphasized the freedom of humans, the equality of all before God, regulation and authorities through consent of the governed, and he justified the overthrow of presidency when it fails the people. Jean-Jacques Rousseau was another prominent thinker from the Enlightenment era. Rousseau differed with Locke about the position of the individual in relation to the country, with Rousseau emphasizing the importance of the ruled being worried in
Locke is a founder of the Common Sense pamphlet. He believed in government ruled by people. “He expressed the radical view that government is morally obliged to serve people, namely by protecting life, liberty, and property. He explained the principle of checks and balances to limit government power. He favored representative government and a rule of law. He denounced tyranny. He insisted that when government violates individual rights, people may legitimately rebel” (Powell 2). He believed that the government was created for the people and not just the monarchy and if the government fails it’s up to the people to ‘fix’ it. He influenced many people and philosophers, including Thomas Paine and Thomas
Locke wants people to stand up for the rights that they deserved. Jefferson wanted to create a government contract for the people, which would allow for them to become an independent nation. Locke’s declaration creates revolts and made the American people start thinking about what they wanted for themselves. His declaration caused damage to the great nation until Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence which united the people.
The American revolution and the French Revolution are two major incidents happened in the 1700s, which had intense social impacts on both French and American societies. In general, the American Revolution was more successful than the French revolution. The similarity between them is that the citizens in both countries, both faced the block of common economical development of the government. However, there is a difference that makes the American revolution succeeded while the French revolution doesn’t. The American Revolution turned the American society into a republic, as the French Revolution eventually led the French society into dictatorship and more chaos in the
John Locke was a key figure in the Enlightenment (which was at its peak at the time of the revolution), who stated that the government’s duty was to secure the rights of the people with the consent of the governed. If the government fails to do its duty, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to create a new one. Essentially, this was what the American Declaration of Independence revolved around; it calls out King George III on his acts that violates their values of equality and their unalienable rights and declares the independence of the thirteen
Due to their education, the working class understood how vastly dissimilar their standard of life was to the nobility and the clergy. The bourgeoisie were educated and had the means to obtain literature from around the world. They, thus, knew what the standard of life should be, how the upper estates were living, and what their life was actually like. This caused an immense amount of resentment (Document 4). The American Revolution also greatly influenced the French rebels. In 1783, only six years before the French Revolution broke out, the Americans successfully rebelled against the English king. This proved that a revolution could actually happen and that rebelling against Louis XVI could have positive effects. The success of the American Revolution inspired them (Document 5). During the Enlightenment, major philosophers like John Locke emerged and questioned the role or power of the government. Born after the English Civil War, John Locke discussed how people had natural rights like life, liberty, and property, which needed to be protected by the government. If this was not being done, he proclaimed that the people had the right to rebel. Other philosophers also convinced the French people about the corruption and misdeeds of the French monarchy. For example, Baron de Montesquieu frequently spoke that there should be a separation of power in
In Europe, during the Age of Enlightenment or the Age of Reason, many philosophers gathered together to discuss their different but similar ideas to help shape the world we live in today. In the late 17th and 18th century, four enlightenment philosophers named John Locke, Voltaire, Adam Smith, and Mary Wollstonecraft focused on the same main idea. They believed in individual rights and presented their arguments through religion, government, economics, and equality for women.
I believe that the American Revolution was revolutionary because there were many events, impacts, and effects after the war was over. When something is “Revolutionary” it means that it causes a dramatic or drastic change. In 1776, the Declaration of Independence was written all because the people needed to be heard, from document 2. What if the King listened, would there still have been a war? I do not believe so because so much time was spent trying to get the people’s point across, and it worked, after the war. Almost everything changed after the war, no more king, taxes, or tyranny. The cause was the war, but there was no effect on slavery or segregation. Going back to the Declaration, that was the main focus of the people, all of their