John Locke’s influence on the creation of what is known as American can be shown by Thomas Jefferson influence on the Declaration of Independence. “a man of versatile mind, fitted for whatever you shall undertake” describes how many of his fellow friends view him. I’ll show how his ideas of knowledge, political philosophy and economics have shaped America. In such documents as The Second Treatise of Government and A Letter Concerning Toleration-
During the 1600’s the enlightenment was when English thinkers put forth their ideas into political actions. John Locke experienced political turmoil of England four centuries ago. However he always came to a lot of different conclusions about politics and human nature. With this being said I see he has gone out his way to influence and make a big impact towards the American revolution and the French revolution. John Locke’s idea’s help create and develop the social contract.
Thus, concretely concluding that Locke impacted Jefferson’s writing would be impossible to support. Yet, the Lockean ideals that reappear in the American Revolution do not seem to be coincidental, and in the many ways mentioned before, John Locke certainly inspired several facets of the
John Locke was an extremely intelligent philosopher whose ideas about government and natural rights paved the way for the American Revolution. Locke was born in 1632. In the 1600s, the ideal form of government was monarchy which Locke most definitely opposed. He was a strong believer in representative democracy based off of what the people thought was right. Locke supported something called social construct theory which guaranteed natural rights for all
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.
After reading through the book I came to the belief that Locke was more influential concerning 18th century revolts. He believed that government should protect our natural rights, such as: life and property. His opinions impacted political changes in America and France and gave people a reason to break away from the existing government. This was such a popular idea that it still lives to this day. It is now what we strive to base our government on.
John Locke was a philosophe during the enlightenment that strongly
The historical development of the world from 1690 to 1830 wouldn’t be what it was if it weren’t for John Locke’s Second Treatise of Government. Locke’s Second Treatise not only sparked individualism, but also revolutions, and was a guide to the creations of declarations around the world. Two main revolutions and declarations that Locke’s ideas inspired were the American Revolution and the French Revolution.
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
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.
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.
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).
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.
John Locke’s Second Treatise of Government was important because it helped create civil societies in which people would give up order to receive protection and security from their government(Locke 1690). This was important because it created a peaceful living and order, but also the people still had the right to overthrow their government if they felt they were not representing the people anymore and abusing power(Locke 1690). The Mayflower Compact and John Locke’s ideas helped our founders shape the U.S to create a better future, and set forth a foundation in which future principles could branch from. The Mayflower Compact was written by loyal, religious colonists that had just landed in America, it was their first attempt at establishing a document that would tell the people their rights, and who would be their leader (Nobles 1215).
John Locke and Baron de Montesquieu were political philosophers that debated the question of who was best fit to control the government. Locke and Montesquieu shared similar political beliefs such as natural rights and the separation of government powers. However, both philosophers did, in fact, have their personal views that helped them accomplish important achievements. John Locke published “Two Treatises of Government” and “ An Essay Concerning Human Understanding,” which present a detail philosophy of the mind and thought. Locke’s “An Essay Concerning Human Understanding,” lays out his philosophical project.
