The Philosophies Of The Founding Fathers

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The United States was built among some of the greatest minds the world had ever seen, and to present times there have been comparably few to ever duplicate their genius. While history likes classifying these men into one unified chunk of American History, the Founding Fathers were actually a conglomerate of diverse thinkers. Some of the men believed in the philosophies of John Locke, who stated that humans were born neither good or bad, but with a blank slate. Many other men followed the human theories of Thomas Hobbes and the religion of Calvin, which viewed mankind a naturally flawed and more susceptible to a state of war. Though not all men agreed, the philosophies of Hobbes was the essential belief system that formed the ground on which …show more content…

They believed that because people are instinctively selfish, that people would have a hard time coexisting in a land where all people were supposed to be treated equal. Though the government was created to aid the people, it was also established to teach the people how to “live properly”. The fact that the constitution was written in the mindset that people needed to be, in a sense, controlled is was and remains a controversial topic. Many view the constitution’s favor for the rich, white, and male property owners was not so much of an “easier way to unify a nation” but more of a list of who it was going to be more desireable to govern. These facts aside, in order to instill equality to a newlywed nation, the people were given some basic human rights and the power to choose who was going to represent them in order to still make sure that the people were still the basis of the new government while still having control over them. Although the Fathers did organize a government based on the flaws of citizens, they also realized the innate evil that came from themselves and the people who would work for the future government, and needed to create

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