John Locke And Thomas Hobbes 'The United States' Constitutional Democracy

The development and origin of the United States’ constitutional democracy was an arduous journey due to the excessive amount of opinions that insinuated about the type of government that had to be in place. Many individuals decided to speak up at such time to give their opinions, yet the two most recognized theorists were John Locke and Thomas Hobbes. Although these two men argued that their own ideals of government were superior, they shared some similarities that helped in the establishment of a government. To begin with, both Locke and Hobbes had different ideals on what a real government should have been like. For instance, Hobbes believed in absolute Monarchies, stating that people were self-centered and only focused on what benefited them rather than others. Hobbes (1660) stated, “…every man is enemy to every man” (p.1909). He truly believed that the government had to rule completely and that the people had no say in the actions taken by the government. According to Cohen (2011), Hobbes believed that “The Hobbesian natural laws command our submission to a sovereign power” (p.462). On the contrary, Locke believed in Democracy,

For instance, Locke and Hobbes were both recognized Philosophers of the seventeenth century. Although they shared different government ideals, they both believed that the United States was in dire need of a government that would place order as well as make life easier for the people. In addition to these similarities, both men believed that every individual had rights and was equal to one another. For example, “Both Thomas Hobbes and John Locke were supporters of liberalism… [and]… both supported individual freedom and equality” (Thetall, 2015). This shows how even though they had a series of differences when comparing political views, both men felt strongly about individuals having freedom and