In his Second Treatise on Government Locke focus’ on liberalism & capitalism, defending the claim that men are by nature free and equal against the idea that God had made all people subject to a king. He argued that people have ‘natural rights’, such as the right to life, liberty, and property, that hold the foundation for the major laws of a society. He says, “…we must consider, what state all men are naturally in, and that is, a state of perfect freedom to order their actions, and dispose of their possessions and persons as they think fit.” (2nd Treatise, Chapter 2, sec 4). John Locke used this claim, that all men were naturally free and equal, for understanding the idea of a government as a result of a social contract. This is where people in the state of nature transfer some of their rights to the government in order to better guarantee the steady and comfortable enjoyment of their lives, liberty, and property.
To understand their views on revolt, and when it is justified, one must first review the responsibilities each believes the government to have. To Locke, the government works to preserve innate rights, that is, rights
The English Bill of Rights and the US Bill of Rights are very important because both documents protect the rights of its citizens! Both documents, English Bill of Rights and the U.S Constitution have similar laws, but is worded differently. The laws of both documents can relate with how they give legal protection for individual rights and its citizens. Although the U.S Constitution has 27 amendments, the first 10 amendments are known as the U.S Bill of Rights. It’s amazing how both the US Bill of Rights and the English Bill of Rights share similar laws and have similar
Constitution. John Locke’s belief of “life, liberty, and property” was the most influence on the American. Beside the Magna Carta, Petition of Rights, and English Bill of Rights, Locke also has a great influence of limit government. Locke’s Social Contract theory was to protect the basic rights of the people, it for the right of citizens to revolt against their king. Social contract is a convention between men that aims to discard the state of nature. According to Locke, the State of Nature is a state of perfect and complete liberty to behavior one's life as one best perceives fit, and free from the interfering of others. Also from Locke’s view of State of Nature, he believes it was given by
The first document that significantly influenced the Constitution was the Magna Carta. The Magna Carta was signed by King John of England in 1215. It stated that the King was not above the law of the land and protecting the rights of the people. The Magna Carta is now documented as the most important documents in the history of democracy. It is so important because it established a
John was the most influential political philosopher of the modern period. John wrote the two treatises of government in which he defended the claims that men are by nature “free and equal against claims that God had made all people naturally subject to monarchy” (). He also, argued that the people did have rights, such as, the right to life, liberty, and property, in which they have a foundation independent of the laws of any particular society. Locke also claimed that men are naturally free and equal as part of jurisdiction for understanding legitimate political government. Apparently, the government exists by the consent of the people and, that is in order to protect the rights of the people and promote the public good, for that reason if the government fails it can be resisted and replaced with a new government.
The United States Constitution protects the rights of every U.S. citizen from every background, culture or religion. Here are some of the rights and responsibilities that every citizen should exercise and respect to ensures that America continues to be a free and prosperous nation.
John Locke was born in 1632 at Wrinton in Somerset, England. He opposed the views of Thomas Hobbes and thought that people were born neither good nor evil. He believed that people's characters were solely based on their experiences and their environment. He also believed that people could learn from their experiences and change their characters for the better. He believed that people had three Natural Rights- life, liberty, and property. In Locke's eyes, the purpose of the government was to protect the people's Natural Rights. He thought that if the government was not doing this job, that the people had the right to overthrow it. Although it may seem that Locke would support a democracy, he was not a democrat. He believed that laborers were of a lower status that the middle and upper classes and had no place meddling in the affairs of the government. He believed that the poor had neither the education nor the inclination to make political decisions responsibly. This was a popular belief of the time. Many of Locke’s political ideas, such as those relating to natural rights, property rights, the duty of the government to protect these rights, and the rule of the majority, were later embodied in the United States
The American population has been ruled by different documents over time. When a document did not work, the Americans moved on to a different one, such as the Articles of Confederation to the United States Constitution. The Bill of Rights was added for the benefit of Americans, it was a
The first ten amendments to the United States Constitution make up the Bill of Rights. It was created by James Madison in an effort to protect the rights and liberties of individuals and to place restrictions on government power.The Bill of Rights prevents the United States from slipping into a totalitarian government; delegates power to the states; and promotes individual freedom. The Bill of Rights is beneficial to the United States.
Citizens of the United States of America are privileged with having a republic that gives them rights that are not available all around the world. American citizens have many rights that have been given to them in the Constitution such as right to bear arms and freedom of the press. Most of these rights are spelled out in The Bill of Rights. One of the important responsibly that American citizens have is to check the government’s actions. American citizens are required to follow the law and pay taxes. Americans participate in elections every year. This however is not required, but it is an important right that Americans do have. The Constitution has taken ideas from several other governments and writing. Some of these documents are The English Bill of Rights, The Spirit of Laws, and The Federalist Papers. These documents helped shape the Constitution and how it is perceived today.
The United States Constitution has been heavily influenced by outside sources that took place throughout history. However, not all people know of these influences and their impact on our nation. In this work, we will look at just a few of these documents that shaped America into what it is today. These documents include the Magna Carta, which affected many of the rights Americans have today, the Social Contract, which is from a series of works shaping how people believed they had rights that could not be taken away, and the English Bill of Rights, which has to do with how much power the government gets and how it maintains that power.
“It was we, the people, not we, the white male citizens, nor yet we, the male citizens; but we, the whole people, who formed this Union” (Bredhoff, S., 2004). We the people are words that identify those responsible for upholding the foundations of the American Constitution. We the people have several rights that protect our basic human dignity, our bodies, and what we do in our home. Here are few of those rights: “equality; we have the right to be treated as equal citizens, safety; we have the right to be safe from violence and abuse, home and family; we have the right to be part of a family and to start one, and privacy; we have the right to privacy, no matter where we live” (Hesla, B., & Kennedy, M., 2008; p. 4). If we the people were
The English Bill of Rights one of the most important doctrines in History, it influenced other documents such as the American Bill of Rights. The main thing we will be discussing in this essay is the differences and similarities between the two Bills Of Rights.In order to allow all of the citizens of the United States their freedoms that are God given they made the Constitution. It is very clear in the Constitution that to obtain a more perfect union they established justice, insured tranquility, and provided for defense. First came the English Bill of Rights which came along in the year 1689. The English Bill of Rights addressed how to confront protecting the liberties of citizens from misused power from the government and government authorities.
From influencing the American Founders to establishing principles that have been found in the American Constitution, the Age of Enlightenment, the Magna Carta, and the English Bill of Rights have all aided in the construction of America. As expressed in the We The People: The Citizen & The Constitution textbook by the Center for Civic Education, the Age of Enlightenment has influenced the American Founders, by increasing national higher power/authority, creating a democratic republic, and including principles from the Magna Carta and the English Bill of Rights. The American Founders began to question the government and make their own ideas about government since they did not like how this established institution was ruling over the people. The Magna Carta had principles, which included the rule of law, basic rights, and government by agreement or contract. The English Bill of Rights had principles such as rule of law and representative government. The principles that were found in the Magna Carta and the English Bill of Rights, were also found in the constitution.