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How Did John Locke's Influence On American Politics

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As the seventeenth century began, there were many changes yet to come for the world that would shape what it is today. Two political thinkers helped make these changes in the aspect of political thought. Those two thinkers went by the names of Thomas Hobbes and John Locke. Both of these two men were incredibly smart and knew what they believed. Both of them believed in a centralized government that was chosen by the people so that the people were able to have power also. The two of them felt so strongly about their ideas they shared them with the changing world. Some people were in favor of John Locke and some were in favor of Thomas Hobbes, but neither were right or wrong. Thomas Hobbes was one of the two political thinkers of the seventeenth …show more content…

As Hobbes believed that each person should be controlled by a ruler that has been provided with absolute power, Locke believed in natural rights. The time that John Locke made his beliefs public was an eventful time in England, especially having to deal with politics. During the time of John Locke, he was able to see the Civil War, Interregnum, Restoration, Exclusion Crisis, and the Glorious Revolution. John Locke still managed to make himself known in a time of incredibly important changing in history. Locke was known for holding administrative positions in government and paying a great deal of attention to contemporary debates in political theory. John Locke decided to place his beliefs in a number of political works to be published and read by many. Locke was also well known for his arguments that were in favor of religious tolerance and also for limited government. A political work that Locke published was Two Treatises of Government. The First Treatises covered the fact that the power of Kings ultimately originated in the domination in which God had given to Adam and had then passed down through an unbroken chain. The Second Treatises then offered a different account of the origins of government. Within the Second Treatises Locke states that men in the state of nature are free and equal, and at liberty to do as they may do what they wish. Man may only do what they wish if it is “within the

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Locke wanted a government to protect our natural rights. Hobbes believed that power resided to the Monarch. Locke believed that power resided to the people. Hobbes believed that a government’s power cannot be limited. Locke believed that a government’s power can be limited.

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He affected the Principles of the American government by writing books. He had many theories about different things such as political things, educational and others, and he would always do all of this by writing a books on them. from Locke, James Madison drew his most fundamental principles of liberty and government. Locke's writings were part of Benjamin Franklin's self-education, and John Adams believed that both girls and boys should learn about Locke. The French philosopher Voltaire called Locke “the man of the greatest wisdom.

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John Locke and Thomas Hobbes were early English philosophers who each had very different views on the roles of the government and the people being governed. Their interpretations of human nature each had a lasting and vast impact on modern political science. Locke believed that men had the right to revolt against oppressive government. “‘Being all equal and independent, no one ought to harm another in his life, health, liberty, or possessions.”

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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 wrote the Second Treatise of Government in 1689 following many civil wars in Europe. James Harrington was arrested for his writing five years after he wrote Oceana in 1656. Both of these men’s ideas concerning the structure and purpose of government proved to be particularly influential in creating The Constitution and The Bill of Rights. John Locke influenced the Constitution by explaining that each individual in a society is born with natural rights and we give up part of these rights to gain better protection. The Second Treatise says, “The only way whereby any one divests himself of his natural liberty, and puts on the bonds of civil society, is by agreeing with other men to join and unite into a community for their comfortable, safe, and peaceable living one amongst another, in a secure enjoyment of their properties, and a greater security against any, that are not of it” (Locke 46).

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In his Second Treatise of Government, Locke revealed his interests in new science, developing theories of education and knowledge (SMW, 34). One of the main points in his Treatise is that of the law of nature, where all men are in natural state of perfect freedom (SMW, 34). Locke argues, “Men being…by nature all free, equal, and independent,

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This is known as social contract. On the other hand John Locke believed in a Democracy were as people were equal and everyone had the right of civil rights. There were many different things about the way they thought for example hobbes thought that people were wicked, selfish, and cruel and would act on behalf of their best interests. Although Locke believed that people were good and full of hope and that they could learn from other peoples

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He wrote many things that inspired the Constitution, including the belief that all people are born with certain inalienable rights like life, liberty, and right to own property, “every man has a property in his own person…the labor of his body and hands are properly his” (71). Unlike Hobbes, Locke believed people were not inherently evil, they could govern themselves, and did not need a sovereign power. Locke also had a different idea of what the state of nature was. He believed that it was a world of perfect liberty in which citizens can conduct their own lives as they see fit, “the state of nature has a law of nature to govern it which obliges everyone”; the state of nature was not a world of chaos and all-out war, as Hobbes would suggest (69). Hobbes believed that the only way to prevent the war against man was to create a strong government with absolute power that focused on keeping people in line.

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