I personally support john locke. John Locke had an important idea about the social contract between government and society. John had a positive view of human nature that he gave humans their right of life property and liberty. He also urged people to fight for those rights if they are taken from them . he supported people that revolt on the government that takes these rights from them. This idea was reflected in modern days in a lot of revolutions. The American revolution reflected his ideas too. Americans wanted their rights which are the natural rights john talked about. They wanted the government to secure their rights like his social contract. The revolution is john’s order if anyone takes their rights. So the American revolution is a
He was obviously a huge influence on Thomas Jefferson when writing the Declaration of Independence. In fact, the next line says that “whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government” (Declaration). This was also an important idea that made up Locke’s philosophy on government. Locke stated that any form of government which started to not function for the benefit of the people was a tyranny. It is the people’s “right to resume their original liberty, and, by the establishment of a new legislative, (such as they shall think fit) provide for their own safety and security” (Locke).
John Locke was one individual who demonstrated the true identity for true happiness in America. He expressed his many views in books which foretold the many ways to achieve the pursuit of happiness. He believed that the government is predisposed to serve us, the people.(Locke Bio) John Locke wrote a book concerning civil government and he stated in bold words that “All mankind... being all equal and independent, no one ought to harm another in his life, health, liberty or possessions.(Locke) Locke’s statement is entirely true if we lived in a world without equality or independence we wouldn't be happy and most likely rebel. But what if we are all equal and independent would you harm a neighbor, a friend,a stranger?
He favored representative government and a rule of law so people can have a say and their opinions matter. Locke condemned tyranny and said that when the government violates individual rights, people have the right to rebel. Locke’s writings and views inspired the libertarian ideals of the American Revolution and this inspired people throughout different continents. Thomas Jefferson had similar thinking. Thomas Jefferson used natural rights ideas to justify declaring independence from England.
New England was fed up with the Church of England and the Puritans wanted to recreate their own religion which they thought was more what God had believed was the intended belief. They both decided that neither of them like the way England was set up and said that England was no good for their beliefs. They planned to leave England and go to the new world to set up a life where their children had the chance to be raised in a perfect society with no corruption. Concentrated on town life and industries, they made a living off of fishing, whaling and shipbuilding. Whale oil was key because it made their lamps.
John 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.
Notable figures involved with the Revolution harbored the concepts of the philosophes and instilled thoughts of liberation into the colonies. John Locke, an English philosopher, reflected on these ideals in Two Treatises on Government writing, “…whenever government tries to take away and destroy the property of the people or reduce the people to slavery, it puts itself in a state of war with the people,” (Document 1). Locke promoted individual thinking in the government that would later set the foundation of modern democracy in America. He did not favor the way government prevented popular sovereignty and believed that doing so would only lead to unrest with the general public, which was the case with Britain’s relationship with the colonists. Another figure originally from England, Thomas Paine, strived to convince Americans to separate from British oppression in The American Crisis.
He believed a government is based on the consent of the governed. The Constitution states that the government is “by the people, for the people”. This directly aligns with what John Locke believed. John Locke believed in individual liberties. The Bill of Rights directly lists out what liberties and rights citizens would have.
The American revolutionaries had a high degree of familiarity with the enlightened ideas that spread to England, which in turn prompted the revolutionaries to see great value in maintaining and protecting their very rights and freedoms that were promoted in the Enlightenment. Perhaps one of the most obvious influences come from John Locke, and his writings can easily be used to aid arguments on behave of liberty, property, and order. John Adams, a founding father and second President of the United States, used the ideas of Locke to shape his “doctrine of justified resistance” in his revolutionary efforts. Meanwhile, Thomas Jefferson had a strong reaction against the “many unwarrantable encroachments and usurpations, attempted to be made by the legislature of one part of the empire, upon those rights which God and the laws have given equally and independently to all.” In the initial draft of the Declaration of Independence (June 1776), Jefferson echoes and rephrases the familiar sacred trinity of “life, liberty, and property” from Locke’s Two Treatises of Government: “We hold these truths to be sacred and undeniable; that all men are created equal and independent, that from equal creation they derive rights inherent and inalienable, among which are the preservation of life, and liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”
Locke’s ideas were used in the Declaration of Independence, explaining why Americans opposed British rule. The king of Britain did not acknowledge the rights of the colonists, and imposed taxes and formed new laws without the agreement from the colonists to do so. John Locke believed that the duty of a government is to protect the natural rights of the people. These natural rights were the rights to life, liberty, and property. If a government failed to protect those rights, the citizens would have the right to overthrow the government.
John Locke, Voltaire, Adam Smith, and Mary Wollstonecraft all said that society can be made better by giving the people free will. John Locke was a great example of the philosophers who wanted the people to have freedoms. Locke thought that the government should be people focused and that the people need to have a say. Locke recommended a legislative and executive branch of the government. (Doc A) Locke believed that the king should have very limited power, giving Parliament more.
For example Locke, argued that people should be allowed to choose their own government, as it will have a greater chance of not failing. Locke said, “The people are at liberty to provide for themselves, by erecting a new legislative,... for the society can never,... lose the native and original right it has to preserve itself, which can only be a done by a settled legislative and a fair and impartial execution of the laws made by it” (Document A). John is stating that it shouldn't be the government who makes all the decisions but the people as it is their right to do so. John Locke was just one of the four figures in the enlightenment that made an impact.
It’s been over 200 years since the original thirteen colonies of America fought their revolutionary war against Great Britain, in hopes of achieving their independence. We shall be going through a few areas of the Revolution, such as the military, social hierarchy, the role of men and women during the war, the colonists’ values of equality and their social contract response to the British government’s abuses, and we’ll compare these areas to the present day. The American Revolution started around April of 1775, when British redcoats and American militiamen exchanged gunshots in Lexington and Concord in Massachusetts. However, that was only the beginning of the fighting; the reasons for the war date from years prior, when resistance from the
John Locke was all about the natural rights theory, these rights are given to us without a doubt because we are human, the government does not control these, and Jefferson became tired of fighting for his natural rights from Great Britain. Britain did not give America the same rights as they did their own citizens which is not right since the two where both under the same rule. So, Thomas Jefferson was done with putting up with this, because he believed that Americans had. What Locke meant by this and what Jefferson was trying to get across to Great Britain through the Declaration was that it is a person's right to declare their god given or natural rights and. Jefferson did just that he incorporated this view of Locke’s to justify his ideas
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.
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.