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Impact Of John Locke On Political Philosophies

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As teens rebel against their mothers, so to did America rebel against the British during the 18th Century. However, also like children they followed their mother’s footsteps. Oliver Cromwell led a revolt against the Staurt monarchy and similarly colonists revolted against the British. During this time, an English philosopher named John Locke wrote works on political philosophies, mainly against the Stuarts. John Locke would have believed that the American colonists justified their resentments against the British especially, since the British stole their fundamental rights of liberty, property, and life. After the Seven Year’s War, the British started to take away the colonists basic right of liberty. Parliament established the Proclamation Line of 1763, which prevented colonists from expanding past the Appalachian Mountains. Colonists wanted to expand and travel further inland. This act, however, restricted that choice. The British government began to tighten its reins on the colonies, and that begun with the Sugar Act of 1764, which imposed new duties on sugar and other goods. Soon, England denied America their salutary neglect and made them pay the Stamp Tax. This tax applied to any legal document. As stated in their colonial charters, only local governments could levy internal taxes. However, Parliament taxed them without any representation in the English government. They demanded actual representation instead of virtual representation in Parliament. John Locke’s writings and even philosophies back to the Magna Carta, …show more content…

A prime example of this would be the Boston Massacre. Colonists protested and boycotted around the customs house, which Red Coats guarded. They threw brick filled snowballs at the red coats and then they shot at the protestors. This incident led to the death of five colonists. The British took away the life of five citizens and they did not have the right to do

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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.

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American Revolution began in 1775. There were lots of events, which led to the America revolution. Till 1763, everything was going in favor of England. Majority of the Americas were in favor of British rule, and they were big supporter. They use to treat parliament and queen of England with full respect.

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Many of the reasons the American colonies believed they were justified in their rebellion from England lay in trade and taxes. When George III inherited the throne at the end of the Seven Years’ War England’s debt had risen to 145 million pounds and his chief minister believed that the American colonies needed to help shoulder the debt. (Nash, et al., 2007. , p. 134) In attempting to collect these taxes from the colonies to relieve the mounting debt Parliament passed a range of acts, which led to discontent among the colonists as many of them restricted trade, their political maneuverability and left many believing they infringed upon their “right to be taxed only by their own consent.”

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Judging from what I have read and seen off the videos shown to us for each philosopher, I believe that the biggest influence on the U.S constitution would have to be John Locke. He focused on the issues that to this day we are still concerned over which are; who should rule over us, how we should educate our children and what to do with those that have different religions from us. As mentioned, Locke had argued against Thomas Hobbes social contract so that people can have the right to over throw the ruler if the ruler acted like a tyrant. This became a big influence on the democratic revolution because to this day as we know it we still have a say in which ruler (president and government) we want to expel from giving us orders so long as we

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The colonists wanted representation when it came down to being taxed, but the British government would not allow it. The government wanted full control over the people, so they made sets of acts and laws that were placed on taxation. For example, the Stamp Acts of 1765. These acts taxed all papers, pamphlets, newspapers, and cards. The Townshend Acts of 1767 were also a large part of taxation.

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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.

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Britain needed a way to fix this. They came up with the Sugar Act, a set of taxes to help Britain raise money. Taxes were not a new thing for the colonists, but these new taxes caused big issues. The Sugar Act was suggested by Prime Minister George Greenville.

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The Red Coats gave the Colonist no say against this, it just was added. The British tried to control them by creating, oh great, another act. " In 1774 Parliament responded by passing a series of laws called Coercive Acts... Forced to let British soldiers live among the Colonists... One of the Coercive Acts banned town meeting in Massachusetts.

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Many American’s are aware that the American Revolution started, because the British Government was taxing the colonies without giving them proper representation in parliament. However, what many American’s do not understand is that the colonial protestors had many more complaints about the British Government in the mid 1770s. Thomas Paine described the colonists view of the British best when he said, “The British were thieves, literally “highwaymen” who stole American rights and wealth as well.” The years following the Seven Years War brought drastic changes for the colonists as Great Britain started taking more control over the them and with each new tax they continued to fill with rage. The most convincing evidence the colonial protestors

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After the French and Indian War the British were had a gargantuan debt! In order to pay off such a huge debt they imposed new taxes and enforced old ones. Great Britain thought that it was allowed to pass laws like these, because Britain had protected the colonists therefore the colonists have to give obedience. Laws like the Stamp Act, Sugar Act, Tea Act, and along with the British being oblivious to colonists’ pleas to change the harsh laws (Document 2) allowed

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The French-Indian War of 1754-1763 resulted in political, ideological, and economic alterations within Britain and its American colonies. The French and Indian War, also referred to as The Seven Years War, began with British and French conflicts across the Ohio River Valley, as both nations wanted to claim the land for themselves. The first blood of the French-Indian War began with multiple British failures, including Washington’s dreadful defeat at Fort Necessity and General Braddock’s failed attempt at conquering Fort Duquesne, in which he died along with two-thirds of his army (Document C). The British would, however, gain momentum in 1759 with multiple victories, including their most significant triumph, Quebec.

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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.

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Britain was forcing the colonists to house the British soldiers and there was no compensation. The British government also violated the colonist’s rights by restricting trade by preventing other nations from purchasing products form the North American colonial market. Obviously, the Founding Fathers were justified in rebelling because the British government was taking advantage of the colonists. Parliament applied various taxes, and forced the colonists to house British soldiers which violated the rights of the colonists.

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Introductory Paragraph (description of theory) John Locke (29 August 1632 – 28 October 1704) is a English philosopher and physician regarded as one of the most influential of the Enlightenment thinkers and known as the "Father of Classical Liberalism”. Locke got a scholarship to Oxford University where he spent 30 years at Oxford, studying, tutoring, and writing. He wrote influential political science and philosophy. Locke 's famous theory had to do with the Social Contract theory. The Social Contract covers the origin of government and how much authority a state should have over an individual.

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