ipl-logo

How Did John Locke View The French Revolution

592 Words3 Pages

John Lock and the French Revolution
For this essay I will be talking about the English philosopher John Locke and how he may have viewed the French Revolution if he would have been alive during it. Locke died in 1704 while the French Revolution began in 1789, so while we can’t actually know what he would have thought, we can examine his previous thoughts and try to apply them to the French Revolution. I will first examine Locke’s views about government and how it should receive its power. Then I’ll be talking about what Locke would have thought about the French Revolution and what advice he would have given to the King of France to solve the protests. Some of Locke’s views include that governments were originally formed from people wanting to be protected from physical harm and that a government is a form of contract stating that the citizens will relinquish some of their rights for the promise of protection. He also believed that governments receive power from the people, so they need to follow the will of the people and uphold their …show more content…

Also, many French citizens were inspired by ideas from the Enlightenment, a European revolution of philosophy. I believe that John Locke would have agreed with the citizen’s desire to revolt. As I previously stated, Locke believed that governments received power from its citizens and are created solely to protect the citizens and their rights, and because the monarchy failed at this it entitles the citizens to revolt according to Locke. I think Locke would have disapproved of the infighting that began and that he would have wished for the new government to remember why they revolted in the first place. Locke probably would have disliked Napoleon’s rise as it discredited the entire revolution as a monarch gained power once

Show More
Related
375 Words | 2 Pages

Locke’s ideas have given Frenchmen the courage to fight against the strict government. During the reign of Louis XIV, nobles’ power was strictly limited. By making the nobles live in Versailles, Louis could easily watch over his nobles. Later, Louis XVI took over the throne. He raised taxes then spent the money in whatever way he pleased (Doc 5).

Read More
211 Words | 1 Pages

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,

Read More
982 Words | 4 Pages

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.

Read More
559 Words | 3 Pages

(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

Read More
1304 Words | 6 Pages

The American revolution inspired the French revolution by providing a blueprint on how to run a nation as a democracy. It was also an inspiration for the French because it gave them hope they could defeat a major military power. Enlightenment ideas inspired the French revolution because they made people want basic human rights and ways to run their new government. The estate system inspired the French revolution because 97% of the population that was being abused financially was sick of it. “The French Revolution differed from other revolutions in being not merely national, for it aimed at benefiting all humanity.”-

Read More
1073 Words | 5 Pages

The American Revolutionary War came about after decades of grievances on the part of the American colonies, grievances which were put in place by the British Parliamentary system. The lack of American representation in parliament paired with the multitudes of acts designed to take advantage of the colonies were cause enough for the colonies to revolt and to overthrow their government. There are few who would disagree with the American’s justification for the revolution, would Locke be one of them? No he would not, the American colonies were fully justified under Lockean reasons for revolution, considering how long they endured the grievances and the legislature that was passed against them.

Read More
1219 Words | 5 Pages

He believed that people were born with reason and in with that came common interests and peace, but he also knew that people would need something to act as a third party in natural brawls. He supported a government that would take action when needed but other-wise stay at bay. When this government made appearance at times in need of control the people would willingly consent to a social contract, which was the notion of at times for the good of the people losing some freedoms. With this government, and its powers came the important opportunity for the people to discard the representatives that they felt were not governing for the people. Locke knew that man was easily influence by self-interest, and if man governed man that wouldn’t it be only natural for government to become a self-interested tool for its own consumption of power and benefits; Madison’s theories constantly worried of a central government that would obtain too much power.

Read More
135 Words | 1 Pages

John Locke had the idea that if the government was unfit to rule and not protecting the rights of the people, then the citizens had the right to overthrow the government. This is shown in America when Americans wrote the Declaration of

Read More
862 Words | 4 Pages

Locke helped shape the United States government and many other nations governing systems around the world. Locke believed all men were born with the rights of life or your natural rights of liberty, the pursuit of happiness, and a government should protect and respect the rights of individuals. Under the protection of your government he believed “whom the society hath set over itself, with this express or tacit trust, that it shall be employed for their good, and the preservation of their property: now this power, which every man has in the state of nature, and which he parts with to the society in all such cases where the society can secure him, is to use such means, for the preserving of his own property, as he thinks good, and nature allows him; and to punish the breach of the law of nature in other” (Document C). By introducing natural rights the common people gained more power through an equality between all men. Natural rights gave people the right to possess and protect their own property both physical items and personal ideals.

Read More
839 Words | 4 Pages

Locke believed that people were born with natural rights that included the right to life, liberty, and property. Locke argued that people formed governments to protect their natural rights, so the best kind of government was one with limited power and was accepted by all citizens. Locke said that a government has an obligation to the people it governs, therefore, the people have a right to revolt if the government fails at its obligations. Like many other Enlightenment philosophers, John Locke’s ideas reflected on the checks and balance system as well as the Declaration of Independence. For example, in the Declaration of Independence, it says, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that 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.”

Read More
1305 Words | 6 Pages

John Locke was a key figure in the Enlightenment (which was at its peak at the time of the revolution), who stated that the government’s duty was to secure the rights of the people with the consent of the governed. If the government fails to do its duty, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to create a new one. Essentially, this was what the American Declaration of Independence revolved around; it calls out King George III on his acts that violates their values of equality and their unalienable rights and declares the independence of the thirteen

Read More
1427 Words | 6 Pages

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.

Read More
265 Words | 2 Pages

In “Family Structure: The Growing Importance of Class” from the Washington Monthly, Senior Fellow in Economic studies Isabel V. Sawhill makes a comparison and contrast between blacks and whites from the 1960s to today, describing how both white and black families have changed over time through the factors such as gender roles, single-parent families, race, and class. In the beginning of Sawhill’s essay, she shows the similarities between what happened to black Americans in the early 1960s and what is happening now to the white Americans and how it is not just race that affects family structure, but class as well. She then proceeds to explain how a job and education can affect a marriage. Jobs require higher level of education, which leave

Read More
1002 Words | 5 Pages

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.

Read More
810 Words | 4 Pages

The French Revolution was undoubtedly influenced by the political theorists of the Enlightenment. The ideas of two French political theorists in particular are easily seen throughout the French Revolution, Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Baron Montesquieu. Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s thoughts and texts, such as the Social Contract, instilled the entitlement of basic human rights to all men. Rousseau’s concepts on rights combined with Baron Montesquieu’s ideas on government provided the backbone of a radical movement in the French Revolution known as the Terror. When one delves into the beginnings of the French Revolution, the motives and actions of the National Assembly, and the Terror of the French Revolution, one can obviously see the influence of two Enlightenment political theorists, Rousseau and Montesquieu.

Read More

More about How Did John Locke View The French Revolution

Related Topics

Open Document