John Locke is one of the most influential Enlightenment philosophers of the seventeenth century. His philosophical writings of individual rights and role of government to secure these rights were a major influence on the founding fathers of the United States of America. The founding fathers such as Thomas Jefferson and James Madison used many of the tenets of John Locke's philosophy to construct the American political ideology of liberal democracy. John Locke's view of what a civil society and popular sovereignty inspired the founding fathers and the colonists to develop a political and social discourse which fueled the American Revolution. Locke's influence can be seen in documents such as the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Federalist Papers.
Professor of history Gordon S. Wood views the struggle for a new constitution in 1787-1788 as a social conflict between upper-class Federalists who desired a stronger central government and the “humbler” Anti-Federalists who controlled the state assemblies. He says that the writers and supporters of the Constitution were Federalists and they believed that the Constitution was a fulfillment. Which basically means, that those Federalists didn’t see anything wrong with the Constitution. Antifederalists said the Constitution was a denial of the principles of 1776. They were saying that the Constitution was didn’t honor the liberty nor the self-government.
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.
Task 1 for AGT1 The Declaration of Independence was written by Thomas Jefferson in 1776 for the purpose of establishing America as an independent nation and to explain the reasons why the colonies were declaring their independence. In it, he states that governments were to be put in place by the governed to uphold the unalienable rights of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”. If the government failed or was destructive to this cause, the governed not only had the right to remove the current government and establish a new one, but a moral duty to do so. Because of the treatment of the colonists, Jefferson saw it necessary to the success of the people that this document be written. Some of the most recognizable and debated statements are found in the Declaration.
(Document F) One Republican, James Madison, perceived the beginnings of a monarchy as he wrote, “The abolition of Royalty was it seems not one of his Revolutionary principles.” (Document N) These views are exemplified in the picture depicting the XYZ Affair. (Document M) The XYZ Affair with France caused political turmoil since the Antifederalists were accused of siding with the
It’s important to know about the past lives and how around the 1800’s the United States started expanding. One of the European ideas was John Locke, who was an English philosopher, and one of the Enlightenment thinkers. John Locke influenced Thomas Jefferson and also the Declaration of Independence. He maintained that people had Natural Rights to Life, Liberty, and Property. Locke had a social contract which meant that people chose their own government as long as the government agrees to protect their natural rights.
He believed that man inherently had an understanding of goodness. He believed in the Tabula rasa, which is a philosophical theory that individuals are born with a blank mind and knowledge comes from their experiences and perception of society . This ‘blank slate’ can be proven in many civilizations, an easy example is comparing Thomas Hobbes and John Locke. They were both born in Europe, during different times. Thomas Hobbes was writing his philosophy when England was in the midst of its civil wars, whereas John Locke was writing at the time of the debate that led to the Glorious Revolution of 1688 .
In this paper I will critically evaluate the social contract theories of Hobbes, Locke and Rousseau and attempt to explain why we will always obey the social contract and why it is important that we continue to do so. SOCIAL CONTRACT THEORY Social contract theory is a branch of political philosophy which examines the foundations on which the legitimacy of political authority is built (Lessnoff 1990). The fundamental premise of social contract relied upon by Hobbes, Locke and Rousseau is that political authority, political legitimacy and political obligations are derived from the consent of those who create a government (the people), and those who operate it through some form of quasi-consent (majoritarianism) (Riley 1982). It requires a mutual transferring of right in which people relinquish their freedom by allowing others to make choices that will benefit society in general. This notion can be found in the literature of the theorists.
It does so by consisting of a set of rules and principles, “. . . creating, structuring, and possibly defining the limits of, government power or authority.” (Waluchow) Absolutism, on the other hand, the monarch would claim power by “divine right”. They and only they created law, in a pure absolutist state.
Liberalism and Socialism Mark Minks Devry University Professor Fuss 6/18/14 Liberalism is a political ideology of 19th century that championed political democracy in the society. This ideology stressed intellectual inquiry, the rule of government by following law, protection of human beings from any arbitrary authority and the autonomy of citizens or individual in the society. Typically, this ideology draws its roots to the religious reformation of 16th century and it owes a lot of its ideals to John Locke and Thomas Hobbes argument that the governed are sovereign and they should not be ruled by an individual who argues that he or she has divine right (Gray, 2005). In 19th century, Adam Smith among other liberalists insisted that the state should not interfere with the societies’ economic life or status. In this respect, the main goal of liberalism is to promote a laissez-faire society and their main goal is preservation of human rights and freedoms.