Ideas In John Locke's Two Treatise On Government

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Discuss how American colonial governmental systems were influenced by ideas such as those in John Locke’s Two Treatise on Government.
Ideas in John Locke’s Two Treatise on Government influenced important governmental systems in colonial America. Locke’s work has been seen to have influenced key documents in colonial America such as the The United States Constitution. Locke’s ideas held in Two Treatise on Government can be seen echoed many times throughout the United States Constitution. Locke argued that under the social contract, the government should protect the individual’s right to life, liberty and prosperity (American Horizons p.199) In the Constitution it is stated in the first ten amendments, also known as the Bill of Rights, that it is the duty of the government to protect certain freedoms and inalienable rights of the individual such as freedom to speak, worship, or press, to the rights to vote, bare arms, and other fundamental enumerable rights.

Using concepts such as the social contract, discuss whether or not institutional slavery would …show more content…

Are they reliable or noteworthy in history or academics? Theres also the reason of why the source was made in the first place. If it was a letter were they trying to persuade someone at the time or was it a simple greetings? Where the source came from is also very telling of how reliable a primary source can be. If the source was about the weather in New England would it be more reliable to see it in a New England newspaper or a tourist’s journal? logic would dictate that it would be the paper. Also what period was the source from? Would a source about medical practice in the 1600s be more relevant to modern doctors or the the state of medicine in the 15th century? Finally what the source actually is must be taken into consideration. If it's a journal, or a newspaper or a bill from congress, it must be examined with such