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How Did John Locke Influence The Constitution Of The United States

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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 …show more content…

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 …show more content…

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

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From the 16th to 18th century, countries in Europe were experiencing new ideas and reforms. Philosophers like Locke believed in social equality. They have discussed the purpose of a government and spread their ideas. Locke’s ideas led to the revolution in France, who didn’t have rights under absolute monarch’s control. After the French gained their rights, people in Haiti started to fight because they wanted to have the same rights that French gained during the reform.

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Specifically, Locke’s ideas from his Two Treatises of Government heavily influenced Thomas Jefferson’s rationale for the propriety of America’s separation from England by expressing a great deal in the right to change the government, human rights trust and strong legislative.

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John Locke believed this as well, that the citizens should be able to change the government if needed. However, this also showed what Thomas Jefferson was going through. He was not only founding a government, but he was rebelling against one. He disliked the idea of monarchy, and giving total control to the government. This further shows that John Locke had an influence on Pres.

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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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• Thomas used Aristotle’s view of natural law to justify the authority of the Roman Catholic Church in political as well as religious matters. For the purpose of explaining the fundamental reasons of law he used Aristotle’s philosophy and added the use of an eternal ruler. John Locke • John Locke had a distinct influence on the writers of the American Constitution by advocating for human rights and liberty through democracy. In saying so, he believed that the mass majority of ordinary people can be capable of giving consent to their governor/ruler as opposed to the Monarch government. However if the ruler did not comply with the needs of the people, Locke believed that the public had the justified right to rebel.

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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.

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John Locke’s Second Treatise of Government, published in 1690, greatly influenced the United States Constitution,

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Locke had stated that when an executive act for his own benefit, and not to serve the ends of the people. He “degrades himself” and becomes “but a single private person without power,” at which point he no longer has any right to rule over the people. Locke expresses the idea of rebellion against an unjust government. By giving the idea of rebellion, he also reveals that a human’s rights have changed over the years and that a man now has inherent rights. It was because of his declaration that the statement, “give me liberty or give me death,” become popular among the American people.

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Major influences when creating the constitution were the ideas of natural rights, the separation of powers, and the popular sovereignty. John Locke was a seventeenth century English philosopher and political theorist who believed that all men by nature should be free and have equal opportunities. As he stated in The Second Treatise of Civil Government, “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” (Locke, Chapter II). He believed that the monarchs should be limited and should rule based on the people's needs, as well as respecting their rights. That's when he conceptualized people's rights as unalienable and natural.

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The Influence of Natural Law Philosophy on Early America In 1690, English philosopher and political theorist John Locke published Second Treatise of Government. Within Second Treatise of Government, Locke proposed principles such as natural rights, and the rights and regulations of kings and the government. Almost a century later, this same document sparked America’s founders to rebel against the British Empire. Locke’s natural rights philosophy influenced early American society and its founders- specifically within the ideas of life, liberty, equality, and revolution.

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As stated above Locke had a major impact on the Declaration of Independence and the U.S Constitution. The declaration addressed the issues that Americans had with the British monarchy. It was informing King George III that they would no longer follow the rules set out by the British. In its simplest form, it was a statement that the colonists wanted to govern themselves.

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Locke’s ideas from the Two Treatises of Government and An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, were based upon the natural rights where power comes from the people. Both of his pieces contributed to revolutions, most importantly the American Revolution as power from monarchies was removed and democracies were created. Allowed for limited government power and all obligations were to the citizens. An Essay Concerning Human Understanding basis was on how the knowledge existence of God, certain moral truths, and laws of logic or mathematics pertained to the natural rights of

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John Locke was a philosopher and political scientist. He had many interests and produced a number of writings that influenced future leaders. One of these leaders was Thomas Jefferson, who was involved with the aid of America and the act gaining independence from Britain. The Declaration of Independence and Locke’s views on government contain many similar aspects. These ideas includes the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness (natural rights); the protection that is provided by the government for these rights; and the altering or abolishment of government if it fails to provide and protect the rights of the people.

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“All mankind... being all equal and independent, no one ought to harm another in his life, health, liberty or possessions. ”(Locke). There are many factors that helped the foundation of the seven principles of the Constitution but the one who stands out is John Locke. There's a theory which has created a change in the way people, back then, think and this theory was made by John Locke and his point of view towards the government and thanks to him we can have the seven principles of the constitution. John Locke helped the foundation of the seven principles of the Constitution by creating the Social Contract theory which it was helped by the power of the people and equality in the government.

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Locke's most important and influential political writings are contained in his Two Treatises on Government. The first treatise is concerned almost exclusively with refuting the argument that political authority was derived from religious authority. The second treatise contains Locke’s own constructive view of the aims and justification for civil government. According to Locke, the State of Nature, the natural condition of mankind, is a state of perfect and complete liberty to conduct one's life as one best sees fit, free from the interference of others. This does not mean, however, that it is a state of license: one is not free to do anything at all one pleases, or even anything that one judges to be in one’s interest.

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