How Did John Locke Influence The Nature Of The American Government

The 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.

Each political philosopher's opinions are influenced by the setting each man experiences. Locke is forming his political philosophy during a time of Revolution. Therefore, he bases his philosophy around democracy.

He believes that everyone is entitled to natural God-given rights such as life, liberty, and property. This famous phrase influences the Declaration of Independence, as it reads, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that 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." McDonald explains the "appeal to Heaven", in which he states, "Locke made it clear that this check meant resisting tyranny by any force--an appeal to heaven being a state of war--and, if necessary included dissolving the government." This is the idea that the American patriots, during the Revolutionary War, used when overthrowing the tyrannical British government. Also, this idea earned recognition in the Declaration of Independence where it states, "...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