When the United States was being founded, the men charged with the creation of this novel system of government drew inspiration from a number of well-known English political philosophers. One of the most overt influences, not merely on the Constitution, but even the Declaration of Independence, was John Locke’s Second Treatise of Government. His depiction of both the State of Nature and its transition into civil society served as the mirror to the American notion and understanding of the purposes of government. Another less discussed but no less intrinsic influence on the founding document came from Thomas Hobbes in his work, Leviathan.
Locke wanted a government to protect our natural rights. Hobbes believed that power resided to the Monarch. Locke believed that power resided to the people. Hobbes believed that a government’s power cannot be limited. Locke believed that a government’s power can be limited.
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.”
The U.S. Constitution was a very well elaborated document that involved many philosophical thinkers like Thomas Hobbes and John Locke. These men had thoughts that found their way onto the Constitution with some of them entangling the other and others being polar opposites. Their theories had a tremendous impact on how the Constitution came to be. Thomas Hobbes is not necessarily considered a founding father but he influenced the people who are in a huge way. He stated that men and women should pursue what they desire in life and that they shouldn’t settle for less.
Hobbes’s opinions about politics and government were far different from fellow English philosopher John Locke’s in his document Second Treatise of Government published in 1689. Locke existed during a much later period in Europe, when the Wars of Religion was over and England had established the Glorious Revolution Agreement between Dutch nobility, William and Mary, and Parliament. Due to the different time periods in which Hobbes and Locke lived, their experiences had a major effect on their opinions about government. Hobbes’ Leviathan and Locke’s Second Treatise of Government had different opinions regarding a man’s state of nature and social contract.
The foundation and nature of the American government has been greatly inspired by political philosophers. Forrest McDonald analyzes the ideas of these philosophers in chapter three of "The American Presidency: An Intellectual History. " Of all the political philosophers, John Locke contributed the most ideas that we're put to use by the framers of the American government. Locke writes the "Two Treatises of Government", which is later studied by the framers and influences their prospective towards the creation of the Constitution. Throughout writing the Constitution, the framers acknowledge significant ideas introduced by John Locke.
Judging from what I have read and seen off the videos shown to us for each philosopher, I believe that the biggest influence on the U.S constitution would have to be John Locke. He focused on the issues that to this day we are still concerned over which are; who should rule over us, how we should educate our children and what to do with those that have different religions from us. As mentioned, Locke had argued against Thomas Hobbes social contract so that people can have the right to over throw the ruler if the ruler acted like a tyrant. This became a big influence on the democratic revolution because to this day as we know it we still have a say in which ruler (president and government) we want to expel from giving us orders so long as we
Hobbes vs Locke When a unlawful crime happens we are shocked and paralyzed by fear and despair. Well ,with these crimes comes governmental responsibility this is why. Without a strictly ruled government violence, no productivity, and consequently no knowledge of the Earth would result. To begin, with “Without a common power to keep them in awe, it will result in a state of war” as Thomas Hobbes states. Strict power is important, absences of this allows us to forget that we are all equal and no one is higher than the other.
“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America’’ (doc 12). This quote from the US constitution shows that they were influenced by Locke because everyone one is equal and all have the same chances. Hobbes and Locke were very influential to different countries when forming their
Major influences when creating the constitution were the ideas of natural rights, the separation of powers, and the popular sovereignty. John Locke was a seventeenth century English philosopher and political theorist who believed that all men by nature should be free and have equal opportunities. As he stated in The Second Treatise of Civil Government, “All men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” (Locke, Chapter II). He believed that the monarchs should be limited and should rule based on the people's needs, as well as respecting their rights. That's when he conceptualized people's rights as unalienable and natural.
As the seventeenth century began, there were many changes yet to come for the world that would shape what it is today. Two political thinkers helped make these changes in the aspect of political thought. Those two thinkers went by the names of Thomas Hobbes and John Locke. Both of these two men were incredibly smart and knew what they believed. Both of them believed in a centralized government that was chosen by the people so that the people were able to have power also.
Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, Thomas Jefferson, even the our very own Founding Fathers here in the United States where greatly impacted by one single individual whose work to present day we as nation can still find verbatim in declaration of our independence. The individual, the great philosopher John Locke if not the most influential one of the most influential thinkers of the Enlightenment era. The thinking of Locke brought the influence to future thinkers from his time to the point where sects such as the Catholic Church banned the thinking of those philosophers whose thought and mindset pronounced that of a threat to their beliefs due to the views of John Lock still in existence. The work of John Locke the philosopher has greatly
Thomas Hobbes supported the idea of absolutism. He believed that, as slaves of war, power, and greed, all men should rely upon an absolute sovereignty as the best form of government. According to the passage, this would eliminate any issues that might arise if man was “governed by his own Reason (Hobbes 1651)”. Hobbes supposed that individuals should “confer all their power and strength upon one Man, or upon one Assembly of Men (Ibid.)” as a way of reducing a chorus of desires into a general judgement for all. Siding with constitutional monarchy, John Locke believed that “an absolute monarchy…is indeed inconsistent with civil society (Locke 1690)” and the people should be the ones who hold the power in a government.
Both Locke witnessed the history of their mother country and devised ways to cure the all political systems of the world, with as little bloodshed as possible. Hobbes came before Locke and was considered a founder of political philosophy, as at the time, nobody dwelt on the ideas of government; it was just the divine right of the king to rule because he was god’s chosen man and no questions asked. Though historians like to believe Locke and Hobbes were at each other’s throats with their contrasting ideas, Locke was greatly influenced by the teachings of Hobbes as a fellow political thinker. Though they were not in concurrence with their specific political views, they are both remembered as revolutionary philosophers who changed the way people thought about
When comparing the two different accounts of English philosophers Thomas Hobbes and John Locke we must take into consideration a number of things such as the age in which they lived and the time in which they produced their philosophical writings. We will however find out that these two philosophers actually have a couple of things in which agree on even though most of their opinions clash. On one side we have Thomas Hobbes who lived in the time of the English Civil War (1642-1651) who provides a negative framework for his philosophical opinions in his masterpiece Leviathan and who advocates for philosophical absolutism . On the other side we have John Locke, living during the glorious revolution (1688-1689) he presents a positive attitude in his book The Second Treatise of Government and advocates for philosophical and biblical constitutionalism. It is important that we know that the state of nature describes a pre- political society prior to the social contract.
