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Comparison Of Enlightment Philosopher And The French Revolution

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Enlightment Philosopher and the French Revolution Many revolutions have occurred over the years. One of them was the French Revolution. Imagine if an Enlightment philosopher would have been alive during this time. What would they have thought about this revolt against the government? Would they have agreed with it? First, let’s imagine John Locke living during the French Revolution. What were his basic beliefs about government power? Well, he believed that people are naturally reasonable and logical and have natural rights to life, liberty, and property ownership. Also, that a government gets its authority from its people. Basically, he believed that a government should protect these rights and, if they fail to do so, the citizens have the right to overthrow it. Furthermore, now that we know John Locke’s beliefs we can better understand what he would have thought about the French Revolution. A lot of the French Revolution was due to the Third Estate. They were inspired by the success of the American Revolution and, began questioning their equality, liberty, and democracy. They had a heavy burden of taxes and, it was almost impossible for them to conduct business profitably. A strong leader would have helped but, Louis XVI the leader of France payed no attention to the problems. …show more content…

Well, he probably would have told him that he can’t keep ignoring his problems especially because they not only affect him but, also his peoples. Also, that he should have talked to his wife Marie Antoinette who was no good because she was spending all their money on gowns, jewels, and gambling making Louis raise taxes. Maybe if Louis would have had a good adviser he could’ve stopped the French Revolution. The only thing his people were desperate for was change, and since they didn’t know how to bring it and their leader was of no use the French revolution seemed like the only way to

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Locke believed that every person has rights including the rights to life, liberty, and property. Locke also believed that governments should be for the good of people, as quoted in source A “The purpose of government is the good of mankind” (John Locke). These ideas were expressed in the French Revolution,

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When the thirteen colonies fought to gain their independence from Great Britain, he used John Locke’s ideas to justify the war. (Pg. 641) Not only did Thomas Jefferson use Locke’s idea to justify the American Revolution, he also included it in the Declaration of Independence, which was written in July of 1776. The only difference is that Thomas Jefferson, instead of property, he used “pursuit of happiness”. John Locke did not only believe in a men’s natural rights, he also believed that it was the government’s duty to protect these rights, and that it’s power comes from the people.

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While the French Revolution began in 1789, ideas and inequalities started long before the fighting. The French had recently helped with the American Revolution, with their quest to reach freedom from the British. This helped spark ideas that were already there. The French people, mostly the third class, realized that they were being treated unfairly and that they could do something about it. The French Revolution was caused due to many occurring factors over a period of time, whether it be poor leadership by King Louis XVI, inequality of the third estate, or past ideas such as the Enlightenment, which inspired the Declaration of Rights of Man and Citizen.

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(Document 10) One of Locke’s primary beliefs was the people’s right to revolt against oppressive government. Some of the greatest nations rose from a revolution including the United States and France. These revolutions led to greater and stronger

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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.

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Locke believed that the citizens had a right and responsibility to overthrow an unjust government. In the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson says, "That whenever any form of

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This sharing of power added ideas from the newly formed government that focused on the freedoms of citizens in England. Voltaire contended that the English government had successfully limited the power of the monarchy by affirming the power of the nobility, criticizing the French feudal system for its inability to share political power amongst the citizens of France (6). Advocating a limited monarchy to hold political discussions concerning the progress of the French government towards liberal reforms during the French Revolution. Voltaire as an enlightened philosophe, published papers about the rationality of the French government, which influenced his attitude towards the English constitutional monarchy that implemented the enlightened ideal of liberty. John Locke wrote that the purpose of electing legislative powers was to create laws and rules that protected the “properties of all the members of society,” a natural right of mankind (5).

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For the past decades in Europe, the most common form of government was a monarchy and all the power was in the hands of either one or a couple people. During the time of the monarchies, the Enlightenment period took place and this was when many philosophers would begin to question the government. An enlightenment thinker during this time who challenged the government and suggested better ones was an England born man by the name of John Locke. Locke was interested in a type of government where power was separated and wanted the principles of government to ensure the liberty of the individual. Locke’s beliefs would change the way that people would think a government should be run, and the people wanted rights and freedom.

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In 1783, only six years before the French Revolution broke out, the Americans successfully rebelled against the English king. This proved that a revolution could actually happen and that rebelling against Louis XVI could have positive effects. The success of the American Revolution inspired them (Document 5). During the Enlightenment, major philosophers like John Locke emerged and questioned the role or power of the government. Born after the English Civil War, John Locke discussed how people had natural rights like life, liberty, and property, which needed to be protected by the government.

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Many of his thoughts and principles were studied and adopted by the founders of the United States and are evident in documents, just like the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. Locke emphasized the freedom of humans, the equality of all before God, regulation and authorities through consent of the governed, and he justified the overthrow of presidency when it fails the people. Jean-Jacques Rousseau was another prominent thinker from the Enlightenment era. Rousseau differed with Locke about the position of the individual in relation to the country, with Rousseau emphasizing the importance of the ruled being worried in

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In his writings he proposed a conception of political philosophy, which was gathered from the principle of self-ownership and the right to keep property. This can sound familiar because founding fathers took a lot of what john had said and established it into our own declaration independence. He also argued that the divine right of kings is supported neither by stricture nor by the use of reason which until this point was the predominant philosophy that kings were to rule because they were born to rule because they came from a bloodline that was gifted with rule as set forth in the bible. To Locke, men are in natural state of perfect freedom to their actions and place possession and persons as they think fit without asking or depending upon the will of any other man. All men, according to John Locke should be restrained from invading others rights and from doing harm to one another and the law of nature be in vain with there was no body that in the state of nature had a power to execute that law and thereby help the innocent and restrain offenders.

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Locke’s beliefs that the government only has the right to govern if the people consent for it to do so is apparent in both The Declaration of Independence and The Constitution of the United States of America. The Declaration of Independence states: This is derived from Locke’s idea that Also, in Article I of The Constitution, a direct outline is provided to ensure the inclusion of a proper Representative of the states, to protect this philosophy. Both John Locke and the Founding Fathers stress the importance of the people dictating the government’s actions, not the opposite. Thus, the two basic ideals of the United States’ government- the right of the individual to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, and the government existing only from the consent of the people- identically match those put forth in John Locke’s Two Treatises of Government, making John Locke one of the most influential philosophers in the founding of the United States of America.

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Locke was a part of several significant moments, such as the European Enlightenment along with the Constitution of the United States. Thus, “his political thought was grounded in the notion of a social contract between citizens and in the importance of toleration, especially in matters of religion” (Rogers, 2023, para. 1). Locke’s principles were not always immediately accepted into society, as it took several years for these ideas to be accepted. Along with other principles and ideas that Locke had, “John Locke’s Second Treatise on Government, published in 1690, is the founding statement and justification of the right to private property, and to its secure protection by public law and force” (McMurtry, 1997, para. 5). This specific theory was widely well-known, as it was very broad.

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Much of what he said in politics was accepted in England and in the U.S. after the Declaration of Independence in 1776. Locke believed that the government gets their power from the people and that people had the right and power to overthrow an unjust government. A philosophe named Rousseau was much like John Locke, he favored individual freedom. Rousseau wanted a direct democracy. He was a French philosopher and a writer of the Age of Enlightenment.

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They began the French Revolution, which wouldn’t have been possible if Louis’ actions hadn’t been as drastic as they were. To a greater extent, King Louis XVI can be held accountable for the main causes of the French Revolution due to the wars that he refused to drop because of his stubborn personality and the National

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