Articles Of Confederation Dbq

A number of factors played a part of choosing what government the founding fathers would choose. At first, they established the Articles of Confederation. The Articles were ratified during war with Britain, so it was set in a war based aura. It allowed the country to conduct foreign affairs, declare war, and make treaties. It could not collect taxes, but the states could. Being at war was expensive, so the fact that it could not collect taxes created serious issues. The government was extremely weak. The Articles of Confederation did accomplish some things, like the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, which set up a process to create five new states while outlawing slavery in all five new states, and it also won the war. On September 17, 1787, the

The Enlightenment era showed light on whether or not monarchs, Kings or Queens, really acquired their absolute power from God. People started to think with their own minds, they started to think intellectually. The Enlightenment acknowledged three philosophers, John Locke, Baron de Montesquieu, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau, who are now widely known for their famous political theories.
Let's start with Thomas Hobbes, a famous English philosopher whose ideas are later contradicted by John Locke. Hobbes believed in something called “State of Nature” which is the condition of human beings without political association. There is no government, no authority whatsoever. Every being is born equal and share the right to do anything for their survival. His political theory was based off his idea that all humans are naturally evil and selfish. Hobbes said that this equality leads to war. “...a war of every man against every man.” He believed people act selfishly, so they could not be trusted to make their own decisions. Hobbes said that the only purpose of a government was to protect people from their own evil and

Locke was an English philosopher widely known for his political theories and is considered to be one of the most influential enlightenment thinkers. Contrary to what Hobbes said, Locke believed that when an infant is born he is neither good or evil. He said that every human being is born with a blank slate, or tabula rasa as he called it. As the infant grew older, the environment surrounding him shaped his personality. It was believed that adult surrounding the child could potentially have an everlasting effect on the child’s future. Since a child’s mind is so malleable, any person could shape it with assiduity. Locke also believed that each and every person is born with three basic natural rights: life, liberty, and property. One knows when these rights are being violated when someone tries to take your life, your liberty and if someone stole your possessions. Locke believed that government only existed to protect these natural rights. His father fought in what is known as the English Civil War, which is the war between Parliament and the King over how much power the King should have. So Locke knew that the government could you abuse its power by taking away your natural rights just as easily as you are