Declaration of Independence v. Locke’s 2nd Treatise of Government Locke wrote two treatises on government, but the focus is on his second treatise of government. The first treatise of government was a response to Robert Filmer’s patriarch and divine right of kings. He was in objection with Robert Filmer which led him to write the first treatise of government (Filmer, 2015). The second treatise focuses on not just refuting what he was against, but also a proposal of what a legitimate government looks like, in consent to the people. The audience is his fellow Englishmen, and Locke writes in a language at least in the 1690, very accessible.
John Locke was an extremely intelligent philosopher whose ideas about government and natural rights paved the way for the American Revolution. Locke was born in 1632. In the 1600s, the ideal form of government was monarchy which Locke most definitely opposed. He was a strong believer in representative democracy based off of what the people thought was right. Locke supported something called social construct theory which guaranteed natural rights for all
New England was fed up with the Church of England and the Puritans wanted to recreate their own religion which they thought was more what God had believed was the intended belief. They both decided that neither of them like the way England was set up and said that England was no good for their beliefs. They planned to leave England and go to the new world to set up a life where their children had the chance to be raised in a perfect society with no corruption. Concentrated on town life and industries, they made a living off of fishing, whaling and shipbuilding. Whale oil was key because it made their lamps.
Founders were also influenced by John Locke’s Second Treatise of Government where the idea of natural rights were introduced. John Locke believed all men were born with the natural rights of life, liberty, and property. The Second Treatise of Government states, “all men is are naturally in: a state of perfect freedom to order their actions and dispose of their possessions as persons as they think fit… a state also of equality, wherein all the power and jurisdiction is mutual.” By saying this the government cannot take away what the man was originally born with.
It is evident that John Locke’s role in political philosophy is prominent and has significantly aided the development Western government. Overall, Locke believed that if a society could facilitate a government that didn’t violate anyone’s right to life, liberty, health, and possessions, they would all live a life of
There are many principles of government from the Declaration of Independence that are still valid today. One principle is that all persons are rightfully sovereign over their own affairs, which do not infringe upon the rights of others. This principle is still valid because we should have rights and ownership to our own property, and no one should be able to take that property away. It makes sure that what you own doesn’t affect other people, and protects their property as well. The government created to protect the rights of the people, and is consented by the governed, is also an important principle.
English philosopher John Locke in his Second Treatise on Government, promulgated in 1690, portrayed in theory the three branches of government that would develop under the United States Constitution: the executive, legislative, and judicial. The legislative branch was, according to Locke and the Founding Fathers whose actions were shaped by Locke’s philosophy, the most significant branch of all three, considering it regulated the purse strings and constructed the laws that later influenced society. Even though Congress was the most relevant of these three branches, each section obtained checks and balances in relation to the remaining two; the president had a right to veto congressional legislation, Congress could supersede the veto with a
He wrote in this book that, “This fatherly authority there, or right of fatherhood, in our A.’s sense, is a divine unalterable right of sovereignty, whereby a father or a prince hath an absolute, arbitrary, unlimited, and unlimitable power over the lives, liberties, and estates of his children and subjects; so that he may take or alienate their estates, sell, castrate, or use their persons as he pleases, they being all his slaves, and he lord or proprietor of every thing, and his unbounded will their law (Locke, 12).” He told people that there are rights own by every mankind, which can not be taken away by others, and he stated that government is needed for subduing chaos in the state of nature, where people protect and gather resources of their free will. To sum up, civil society is built upon need for protection of property, which includes people, and the rights and estates they own. Another important augment, the social contract, stated
John Locke was a 17th-century philosopher and political thinker who created the basis of republican government and inspired the Founders of the United States, in particular, Thomas Jefferson. In agreeance with Thomas Hobbes’s theory of the origins of government coming into existence due to mankind in the form of social contracts, he argued that since people created government it should thus do what the people demand and protect their rights. This is detailed in his famous work Second Treatise of Civil Government in which he argues that rulers are given power through consent of those governed and thus must protect their human rights, which he believed included life, liberty, and property. If government were to fail in protecting those rights, the people had the right to overthrow the existing government for one which would uphold order and provide and protect those rights. He also argued that government had immense power that could be abused and lead to dangerous outcomes such as controlling those governed.
In the republic democracy of the United States of America, the Founders of our Nation created a system of separation of powers with checks and balances. Our Founders used the philosophy of John Locke in Second Treatise of Government, to give us our “natural rights” and what the state of nature means. For John Locke, the legislature and executive branches must remain separate, for a country to tread past the state of nature and into a governing body. He gives clear insight to what powers each of the branches should hold. Including what should happen in a civil crisis or emergency.
Many laws citizens of America abide by today trace back to the philosophical ideas of Enlightenment thinkers from the 17th century. During this time period, the scientific revolution and absolutism sparked a movement in which new ideas and thoughts promoted challenging the government. People believed that if they could understand human nature, they could form the ideal government to rule over the people. Many different thinkers presented their own thoughts and beliefs on the people and their natural rights, along with how the people should be ruled. Of the many Enlightenment thinkers whose philosophies are found the Constitution, John Locke and Voltaire made the greatest impact due to their contributions in protecting the people’s liberties,
In John Locke’s Second Treatise of Government, Locke’s main argument is whether majority rulings does not violate people’s fundamental rights. He goes further to explain his theory of a legitimate government. According to Locke, a legitimate government is a government that is limited and based on consent of the people. A government must not violate a person’s natural right (life,liberty, and property), but it can take away property through taxes and make citizens go to war for them. In following that government has limits that can violate a person’s natural right, however, how can we constitute many of our law as violations to people’s fundamental rights if it helps the people.
In John Locke’s The Second Treatise of Government, Locke details the role of a government and the conditions under which it is just to resist one’s government. Locke asserts that the government’s duty is to preserve the rights and welfare of its subjects (Locke, 84). This shows that a government that doesn’t respect subjects’ rights is worthy of resistance, a concept still relevant today.
Introductory Paragraph (description of theory) John Locke (29 August 1632 – 28 October 1704) is a English philosopher and physician regarded as one of the most influential of the Enlightenment thinkers and known as the "Father of Classical Liberalism”. Locke got a scholarship to Oxford University where he spent 30 years at Oxford, studying, tutoring, and writing. He wrote influential political science and philosophy. Locke 's famous theory had to do with the Social Contract theory. The Social Contract covers the origin of government and how much authority a state should have over an individual.
Some of the points covered by John Locke in The Second Treatise - State of Nature - Human beings are born with some natural rights and they have no right to violate the right of others. As long as individual lives by the laws of nature and peace prevail they are pleased to do as they like. Conquest and Slavery – God created all human beings equally, to live freely without being held captured is the birthright of all. All of us are entitled to self-ownership since slavery violates self-ownership. Property - Humans have the right to own private property.
