How Did John Locke Influence The Constitution Of The United States

John Locke’s major philosophies included the Social Contract and the Second Treatises of Government which influenced the Constitution of the United States. John Locke expressed his ideas on human nature and government in his famous Social Contract and The Second Treatise of Government which greatly influenced James Madison to write The Constitution of the United States. According to, (What life would be like in a “State of Nature”,2017), John Locke had no doubt that the State of Nature has a law in which everyone must follow. Those fundamental rights consist of the right to life, liberty, and property. Human Nature results in individuals living without government, which allowed Locke to believe life without government will provoke violence

Continuing on to the Social Contract, John Locke said, “Thus, when a king, (or president), loses the consent of the governed, a society may remove him.” This indicates that if the government infringes the people’s rights, the people, suitably, can execute the government and replace it. The Second Treatise is fundamental for our government because it places sovereignty into the hands of the people. In the Second Treatise, John Locke touches on essential matters on how a government should be structured and how it can protect its citizens rights. (The Second Treatise of Government, Chapter IV, 1632-1704), addresses our freedom that, “The liberty of man in society is to be under no legislative power,” and that “Nobody can give more power than he has himself.” Thus, meaning that the government has limited power and no right to dictate its people and must respect their rights. In (The Second Treatise of Government, Chapter X, and XI, 1632-1704), Locke shares the differences between absolute monarchy, democracy, and of the legislative, executive, and judicial branches. No doubt, that the second treatises of government reached the hearts of America’s Founding Fathers and had greatly influenced the Constitution of the United

It had become readily apparent that the US had issues way beyond state power so the founding fathers were anxious that a powerful government would lead to tyranny so they decided to hold a Constitutional Convention, (The Articles of Confederation and Confederation to Constitution, 2017). May of 1787, Delegates from each state excluding Rhode Island met collectively at Independence Hall in Philadelphia to discuss and draft a new constitution for the United States of America, (The Constitutional Convention,2017). According to, (The Issues: Revise or Replace,2017), at first, the delegates disagreed sharply on the fundamental issue of whether they should revise the Articles of Confederation or draft a new document. In the end, the delegates agreed to draft a new document which would be called the Constitution of the United States. John Locke inspired the Constitution of the United States by having most of his beliefs from his Second Treatise of Government and the Social Contract implemented into the Constitution. The Constitution of the United States reflected the ideas of separation and balance of powers as well as setting up a protection for people’s rights to life, liberty, and