Doing so by agreeing to create a state, this state was to be a system by contract, a contract that the states people would grant which powers they chose to the state, in exchange for the upheaval of their securities and rights. This theory is the Social Contract Theory, with relevance to the American political system. It is suspected that our founding fathers used this theory to derive the six purposes of the government, which are found in the Preamble. The first of which mentioned in the Preamble is to form a more perfect union. This was evidently needed due to the constant confrontation of the first states of the confederacy.
This led to a decision for the king: cope with our demands, or we fight for our independence. After the king rejected the demands of the petition, Thomas Paine released an article entitled “Common Sense”. By this time, the people thought they were fighting to make King George III listen to their demands, but Thomas Paine introduced the idea that independence was better fighting for, and that Britain has too much power over us. He stated that Britain could drag Americans into war that they had no intention of being in, which was concluded that America is much better off on its own, and that this way of thinking was common sense. This document changed the minds of thousands of Americans to now want complete independence.
By contrast, the American colonists rebelled mainly against British rule. After the revolution, they established laws that protected individual rights balanced with representative national and state governments. The American Revolution was the first of a series of wars for independence that shared some common beliefs. Shared ideas included an emphasis on individual rights and the idea that a government’s power comes from the
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.
Because the British government was not fulfilling Jefferson’s previously mentioned definition of a government’s duties; they were forced to take the very necessary step of removing themselves from the King’s rule and ruling themselves. In what has become one of the most identifiable phrases in political theory, Jefferson declares certain truths to be “self-evident”. These truths that all men are created equal and that men are endowed with certain unalienable rights became increasingly integral to the cause championed by Jefferson and the other creators of the
Locke had a social contract which meant that people chose their own government as long as the government agrees to protect their natural rights. The government couldn’t violate the social contract because if they did, they could have overthrown the government. . Starting with the Declaration of Independence and continuing into the United States Constitution, Locke’s philosophy inspired many Americans to break away from the common, European institutions. Also he inspired other countries to do the same.
Founders James Madison is the real father of US government in my point of view. He wrote Constitution, the main rules of the government, as a pioneer. In his idea, the structure of government had to be republic rather than democratic because it was quite difficult to have a direct democracy in such a nation with so many people, and not all of them needed to be listened to by government when making decisions. What’s more, he changed the way of dividing the political powers among several parts of the entire nation, which was quite significant for the emergence of US government at present. First about republic, James Madison decided to abandon the democratic governmental form and used the republic form instead because the latter tended to
Not only did they risk their own lives and land, they risked those of their families and neighbors. Thomas Paine pressured people to see the extent of the monarchy threatening them. Another revolutionary radical, Patrick Henry, stood up for liberty against the evil acts of Britain. Freethinkers like John Locke, John Toland, Matthew Tindal and other freethinkers and deists led the battle in Britain against state-sponsored religion, and led the fight for civil liberty (Ritcheson). Conservative, these men were not.
This conflict is embodied in one of the rallying cries of the American Revolution: “No Taxation Without Representation.” And similar to such a cry, is the statement, “The demand for no taxation without representation was the primary force motivating the American Revolutionary movement, and for many it became a symbol of democracy;” ultimately saying that the American Revolution, as well as the colonist’s rage towards Britain, grew out of increasing, continuous restrictions placed upon the colonies by the British. The British had full power over the thirteen colonies until 1776, when the colonists formally declared their independence. But until then, the colonists felt that they were being taken advantage of economically, as well as politically. Despite the protection and opportunity that Great Britain provided, the colonists felt they were abusing their powers by creating unfair tax laws and regulations. Great Britain had one of the most powerful empires in the world.
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.