If the government rests on consent, and if consent is ever removed, then the people have the right to revolt, to cast off one government and replace it with another government. The people get the idea of legitimate government of being limited. Government can’t do anything that’s limited in its powers, which come from its work. There is religious toleration, separation of church and state, which all comes from Locke, and the notion of constitutional democracies that limit
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.”
Locke believed that it is people’s inherent right to govern themselves. He “championed the social contract and government by consent”. (Steven) He even went so far to say that people did not need to be governed. All that government is is a framework by which people protect their natural rights, but it only needs to exist in practice.
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.
The United States Constitution guarantees citizens’ rights such as freedom of speech and religion, right to a speedy and public trial, and right against unreasonable searches and seizures. With these rights come responsibilities such as paying taxes and obeying federal, state, and local laws. Some are voluntary such as voting and being an active participant in the community. Citizenship rights outlined in the United States Constitution stem from Second Treatise of Government, Spirit of Laws, and Social Contract. These documents emphasize the rights and responsibilities of citizens in a democracy and provided the basis for the Constitution.
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
Locke explained in the Second Treatise of government that the power of the state is held by the people, and the power of the state can only be sustained if it exists to preserve and protect the interest of the people. "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. in a secure enjoyment of their properties, and greater security against any that are not of it" (Second Treatise on Government pg. 2). Locke proposed that the people could dissolve their government if needed. The government was merely there for the benefits of the people and could be replaced if it ceased to do its primary function.
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.
-Locke was born into a quiet Somerset village in 1632 and he graduated from Harvard University. Locke was a man who benefited financially from all of this: he was a secretary to the lord proprietors of Carolina, council of trade and plantation, invested in the royal Africa company, where Britain used to buy slave from west Africa, and Locker ended to owner land in Carolina. “the state of nature is in many ways the central concept at work in Locke’s two Treatises of Government. It is the concept with which Locke chooses to introduce the Second Treatises. And it is only against and by means of the state of nature that locker offers us accounts of political obligation and resistance” (Simmons).
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,
John Locke's Second Treatise of Government is a work which could be considered modern in nature. Throughout the book Locke espouses ideals such as a the fundamentally equal nature of all humans, and the purpose of government not as a religious institution, but as a tool of the people. Ideas such as those articulated in Locke's Second Treatise were a driving force behind the events which eventually lead to the Glorious revolution. The events which lead to the gradual decline of the British crown and the rise of Parliamentary power were essentially textbook Lockean situations, in which an executive power attempts to reach out of its established bounds and is ousted by the people. In these cases the role of the Whig Party is that of the nation
In 1689, John Locke published an invaluable document known as the, “Two Treatises of Government,” following the shift of power from King James 2nd to King William the 3rd. In these two documents, Locke presents an outline of his core beliefs and ideologies towards the concept of corrupt governments, and the rights of the People that are crucial in the People’s conquests to preserve their safety from the government. Some of the more well-known concepts include Locke’s model government, which is based on his idea that all men are in a natural state of perfect freedom. These radical documents inspired a multitude of writers at the time, and resulted in writers releasing their own political pamphlets questioning the rule of their respective governments.
Locke's most important and influential political writings are contained in his Two Treatises on Government. The first treatise is concerned almost exclusively with refuting the argument that political authority was derived from religious authority. The second treatise contains Locke’s own constructive view of the aims and justification for civil government. According to Locke, the State of Nature, the natural condition of mankind, is a state of perfect and complete liberty to conduct one's life as one best sees fit, free from the interference of others. This does not mean, however, that it is a state of license: one is not free to do anything at all one pleases, or even anything that one judges to be in one’s interest.
Only those who are born with true philosophical understanding can rule. In the Second Treatise by John Locke, Locke addresses the state of nature, which is essentially equality and freedom. Even though people have liberty, they still need to obey natural laws. On the contrary of Plato’s just city, Locke believes that absolute authority is not a civil government. A civil society is where the majority rules.
