Britain kept taxing anything it could think of, in order to keep a tighter grip on the colonies. Thomas Paine knew this was the perfect time to open the eyes of the colonists to the tyrannical behavior of Britain. That it was common sense to separate from your king when he is not doing its job, which is to protect and serve the people for the well being of the people, not for the selfish interests of the king. Thomas Paine did not only help start the revolution but he also helped in making sure independence from Britain was accomplished. A midst the revolution, his second work "American Crisis", overall intention was to persuade not just the soldiers but the common public as well.
Firstly, rulers in early modern Europe wanted complete control over the religions practiced in their states. William Prince of Orange was one of those that wanted the same religion basically to stop their enemy Spain from coming in and taking over. That way they would be held together in a peaceful accord and be able to fight against all dangers, he thought this because of his position as Prince has showed him the things that could happen to a nation that fights in itself (2 pov). Paul Hay du Chastelet thought that a king should maintain the religion that he obtained from his ancestors. He believed this because he was a political writer and aristocrat who was born into these beliefs (7 pov).
On the other hand, the nobility had many rights. Today it’s greatly known that the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were well influenced from the Enlightenment. The Enlightenment thinkers argued against these traditions, and called for individual freedoms, governments of the people, and religious freedom. They were "enlightened" because they believed that humans could answer questions for them, and sought ways to put this philosophy into practice. John Locke, an Enlightenment thinker, highly influenced the Declaration of Independence.
Compare and contrast Hobbes’s and Locke’s notions of the social contract. In making a comparative and critical analysis between the Social Contract Theory of Thomas Hobbes and John Locke, this paper will analyse how both theorists use the notion of the social contract as a means of explaining the origins of civil society and government. While both political thinkers use the social contract theory as the means to protect fundamental rights, their views on how this is achieved and maintained differ vastly. Hobbes advocates for an absolutist sovereign who wields all the power in order to maintain the protection of its citizens and the state where as Locke argues for a limited government whose authority derives from the consent of the ones being ruled and one which is checked through separate branches of power. This paper will then conclude that while similarities between the two thinkers do exist in regards to using the notion of the state of nature as the condition to enter a social contract, their perceptions of the sovereign and the power he can exercise creates different outcomes when forming civil society.
He believes that it was the role of the government that would keep these instincts in line. If these instincts were not controlled it would lead to war. Hobbes views were shaped by his life experiences during the English Civil War. He believed people were evil and selfish. Hobbes idea that “people orbiting their ruler” leads me to the idea of socialism/communism (Sayre, 2012).
In the adaptation by Neil L. Cooney it’s mentioned that Thomas Hobbes had three ideas. The first one it states that God gave the right of government upon the king or the monarch. This meant that the people were supposed to listen to the king because he had the same power as God. Since Britain and France wanted to get rid of their king they had to come up with new ideas of the origin of government. Making a “Social Contract” where it stated that God’s authority was actually given to the people and not the king himself.
Locke defended the proposition that government rests on popular consent and rebellion is permissible when government subverts the ends for which it is established i.e. the protection of life, liberty, and property. Jean-Jacques Rousseau philosophy was the idea that people give the government the power to rule over them. Locke advocated governmental checks and balances and believed that revolution is not only a right but an obligation in some circumstances. These ideas would come to have profound influence on the Constitution of the United States and its Declaration of Independence.
While the Awakening affected the Church, the Enlightenment affected government. For example, John Locke’s Two Treatises on Government changed the way people viewed government. John Locke emphasized the idea that the government should serve the people and he justified revolting against unjust rulers. The Great Awakening and the Enlightenment also brought different ideas to the people. The ideas from the Enlightenment were based on rationalism and human reasoning.
If so, What Should be its Role Role of Government In responding to the questions Do we need government? If so, what should be its role?, my answer has to be yes. Thomas Paine’s quote, “Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state, an intolerable one.” (Paine, 1995) is as true today as it was during the Revolutionary War when he wrote it. In my opinion, we need government and the government needs us, so that Americans can continue to work together with government in harmony, to keep our country growing and developing. Our forefathers escaped to the New World, what is now the United States, so that they no longer had to be ruled by monarchs but as the preamble to the Constitution emphasizes that the nation is to be ruled by the people.
America`s role as world policeman Since the United States of America gained the right to form their own nation, as a result to winning the war of independence, they considered themselves as the protector of freedom and democracy. Those beliefs grew stronger and later became the main reason as to why they started meddling into the rest of the worlds business after a long period of isolating themselves from European conflicts. During the 1800’s the US tried to isolated themselves from being involved with the European imperialistic politics. However, it was inevitable since their interests clashed as they grew bigger. In 1898 the Spanish- American war began when America decided to liberate the Spanish colonies Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines.