How The Arguments Affect John Locke's Second Treatise Of Government

Today's government is heavily affected by documents written many years ago. John Locke wrote The Second Treatise of Civil Government, which described the laws of nature and man along with previous governmental issues. Baron de Montesquieu, in The Spirit of the Laws, justifies his idea of a government with separate branches within it to help maintain structure. Finally, Jean-Jacques Rousseau elucidates the fact that all men will be truly equal within a society when they decide to alienate themselves. These three social contract theorists wrote important documents that heavily affected the Declaration of Independence as well as the Virginia Declaration of Rights and Thomas Paine's Common Sense.

John Locke's Second Treatise of Civil Government,

Locke's document includes multiple main ideas, one of which is the issue regarding natural rights. It was believed that natural rights were liberties that a person was given at birth simply because they were human. However, under the rule of a dogmatic King, many citizens did not have this opportunity. Another point that is stressed in this document is that of the social contract. Locke strongly agrees with the idea that all men are born equal, so to put one above another simply because of heredity is unfair. The solution to this would be to make each individual give up their rights when entering a community, so they all get the same treatment. Finally, the document argues that when the legislative is found unfit for the people, those who are a part of the community are allowed to "act as the supreme" until they find a new legislative that properly represents them, stating that "in that state all former ties are cancelled, all other rights cease, and every one has a right to defend himself and to resist the aggressor.." This backs up the idea that if the government is unfair to the people, those who are being governed are allowed to fight back for not having proper or fair representation.

This piece introduces the idea of popular sovereignty: that the people who live in the community are the ones who make up the government; therefore, they have each other's best interests at heart and should be in charge of it. It is made clear that Rousseau believes that the overall supreme should side with the whole community rather than the one who is put in charge. Rousseau advocates for a government where the people participate in decision-making that affects the whole society. The document emphasizes, "They are only the people's agents and are not able to come to any final decisions at all." This quote actively indicates that the government works for the people, not the other way around. Without the people's votes, the government is not allowed to come to a final decision. Secondly, it gives way to the idea of the social contract, which states that men will only truly be free once they give up their rights to their society. If everyone collectively decided to alienate themselves, they would all be forced to have the same liberties. This meant that they could live their lives to the fullest with the newer liberties that were gained, and since there was "shared equality," no one would feel the need to make something worse for another. The United States Constitution includes