How Did John Locke Create The Constitution
Major influences when creating the constitution were the ideas of natural rights, the separation of powers, and the popular sovereignty.
John Locke was a seventeenth century English philosopher and political theorist who believed that all men by nature should be free and have equal opportunities. As he stated in The Second Treatise of Civil Government, “All men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” (Locke, Chapter II). He believed that the monarchs should be limited and should rule based on the people's needs, as well as respecting their rights. That's when he conceptualized people's rights as unalienable and natural. They rights that people have at birth and can't be taken away, nor can the government infringe on them. Natural rights were created because of the influence of Social
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The theory of the Social Contract achieved prominence when it became one of the leading ways of showing people's relationship with the government and how they can overthrow their monarchs if they became oppressive against them. This is when the political philosophers embrace new ways of viewing the problems of the government and advocated for the separation of powers in the government.
As well as natural rights, Locke’s theory of Social Contract founded the separation of powers of the United States Constitution. This is a division of the government’s power into three branches known as the legislative, executive and nowadays judicial; however, Locke’s third branch was called the “federative power.” They were created because the government required a
What Are The Framers Concept Of Separation Of Power
1438 Words | 6 PagesBy instituting a system that distributes it’s power as fairly and equally as possible, the Framers sought to not only protect this nation from tyranny but to preserve it’s liberties. With the Articles of Confederation too weak to support this country, the Framers knew that this country was in desperate need of a change. Therefore, the Framers fashioned a more balanced structure of government through the doctrine of separation of powers. The division of the three branches of government and the federal and state powers finally created a dynamic of government that would prove to be effective and enduring. But, the Framers did not come to this solution alone, they utilized the various theories of political philosophers such as John Locke and Baron de Montesquieu.
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540 Words | 3 PagesThe 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.
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834 Words | 4 PagesThe 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.
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835 Words | 4 PagesJohn Locke believed this as well, that the citizens should be able to change the government if needed. However, this also showed what Thomas Jefferson was going through. He was not only founding a government, but he was rebelling against one. He disliked the idea of monarchy, and giving total control to the government. This further shows that John Locke had an influence on Pres.
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560 Words | 3 Pages(Document A)” was a radical thought that shows felt a great need to change the public’s thoughts of inequality to those of equality. It would be reasonable to say, that John Locke was a key influence when creating the government laws of the United States that still stand today; the Declaration of Independence
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359 Words | 2 PagesIt was intended to serve as a statement of the fundamental rights and freedoms that all citizens should enjoy, and was heavily influenced by Enlightenment thinking. The Constitution, on the other
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857 Words | 4 PagesWhen the farmers began with the Constitution their efforts was to divide governmental power. To prevent tyranny they needed to separation of power so this created our three branches, legislative (Congress), judicial (Supreme Court), and executive, (The President). This would mean on one person could lead the country alone and make the laws alone. This is where checks and balances come in, no one branch can gain absolute power and they cannot abuse the power that is given. By separation of power provides a system of shared power and to make sure it is fair and equal to all.
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767 Words | 4 PagesLocke’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
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525 Words | 3 PagesIt 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.
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1002 Words | 5 PagesJohn 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.
How Did John Locke Influence The American Constitution
542 Words | 3 Pages• 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.
How Did The Enlightenment Influence The American Government
426 Words | 2 PagesConsequently, a limited government was created in response to these new thoughts. Furthermore, this new type of government was extremely revolutionary because it changed the way that the citizens had thought or viewed about the government. Two Enlightenment philosophers that influenced the creation of the government were John Locke and Montesquieu. John Locke had the belief that everyone had natural rights (life, liberty, property) and that if the government failed to protect these rights, they could be overthrown and replaced. Also, Montesquieu’s idea of the separation of powers helped shape the government.
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816 Words | 4 PagesHe thought that the government would be given too much power. His thoughts on the injustices in the Constitution greatly influenced the making of the Bill of Rights. At the time, Federalists argued that the Constitution didn’t need a bill of rights, due to the fact that the people and states kept any powers not given to the federal government, but Anti-Federalists said that a bill of rights was necessary to safeguard individual liberty. So when the Bill of Rights was made it listed prohibitions on governmental power and the rights that were granted to people. When the Bill of Rights was adopted into the Constitution it was became the fundamental rights of all citizens in 1791.
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