How Did John Locke And Hobbes Influence Thomas Jefferson?

     Since both France and America had the same philosophers to influence them, they were ?enlightened? with the same ideas, which are seen later in both constitutions. England also played a big part in influencing both nations but it was the famous philosophers like Montesquieu, Rousseau, John Lock and Voltaire who lead the revolution to be a fight for human rights. Voltaire, one of the most influential philosophers of his time, having been influenced himself by John Lock emphasized his ideas on reason and the natural rights of human beings and made the people in France and America realize the rights as human beings they should have. Montesquieu was a French jurist and political philosopher who advocated a ?free and balanced aristocratic government? to be established in France. One of his main ideas was his political thought on the separation of powers in where each branch of the government would limit the power of the other two branches as so no branch could become a threat to liberty and therefore no tyranny could occur. Rousseau, a French political philosopher influenced both nations with his preaches

John Locke and Thomas Hobbes are one of the most influential and famous philosophers who both had similar theories but had different conclusions. The two philosophers wrote a discourse “life in the state of nature” and argued about the government. They both had made important and logical contributions to modern philosophy and opened up political thoughts which have impacted our world today. During the seventeenth century the thought of political philosophy became a big topic. John Locke and Thomas Hobbes both started questioning the political philosophy and had had different views and reasoning towards human beings. Both Hobbes and Locke had logical and reasonable theories in which they had opposed to one another. Although each philosopher

Thomas Hobbes and john Locke were both enlightment philosophers who use the state of nature as a formula in political philosophy. Both Locke and Hobbes had tried to influence by their sociopolitical background, “to expose the man as he was before the advent of the social life” (). Locke and Hobbes addressed man’s relation to the society around him; however, they came to different conclusions regarding the nature of human government.

Thomas Jefferson and John Locke share many similarities in their two writings. In this essay there will make a connection between the two and take a look at how Jefferson may have been or was inspired by John Locke with The Declaration of independence. Two of the main points will be the government's role in the rights of people and what those rights are.

For the influences on colonial America, John Locke’s belief in natural rights played a big role in the drafting of the Declaration of Independence. John Locke describes natural rights as “those rights which we are supposed to have as human beings before ever government comes into being (Uzgalis).“ Moreover, John Locke believed these natural rights included “life, liberty, and property” ("Foundations of American Government"). This concept of natural rights influenced Thomas Jefferson deeply, and this influence took its form in the drafting of the Declaration of Independence, The second philosophe and one of the greatest philosophes of liberalism, Montesquieu, believed in a theory of the separation of powers to prevent despotism within a government. Montesquieu “argued that it could best be prevented by a system in which different bodies exercised legislative, executive, and judicial power, and in which all those bodies were bound by the rule of law” (Bok). This theory was later adopted by the Americans in their own form of government. Thus, the philosophes of Europe played a huge role in the formation of America through their influence on significant American figures such as Thomas Jefferson, and this influence helped shape the American

Both John Locke and Thomas Jefferson believe that people have certain natural rights and that it is the government’s job to protect these rights. Their documents were both written for revolutions, although they were two very different revolutions. Ultimately, a revolution in Europe influenced Locke to write the Second Treatise on Government. The Second Treatise on Government was important because it influenced the way many later philosophers would view government. One philosopher influenced by Locke was Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence used the same philosophy as Locke’s Second Treatise on Government, but it also held great significance in that it was the first time a group of colonies had successfully separated from a world power like Great Britain.

The enlightenment was a European movement during the 17th and 18th centuries. The enlightenment wasn’t a physical movement; however, it was an intellectual movement. Most of the ideas centered around authority and legitimacy. Later these ideas may have transformed into liberty, progress, tolerance, fraternity, constitutional government, and separation of church and state. The enlightenment was valued greatly, considering that it showed people how to think scientifically, and it also let the world understand different scientific processes. John Locke influenced Thomas Jefferson with these enlightenment writings by helping him write the Declaration of Independence because of Locke showing Jefferson that people were born with natural rights.

The founding fathers drew from many philosophers as they were trying to write the United States Constitution. Some philosophiser includes John Locke, Thomas Hobbes, and James Harrington. John Locke believed a society where all people were to have independence and equality . Thomas Hobbes believed a society where government should be provided, without a government there wouldn’t be order. Lastly, James Harrington believed of a limited and balanced power government system. Without these theories/concepts the U.S. Constitution wouldn’t be the same as it is today in the modern world.

John Locke's and Thomas Hobbes' ideas impacted today's government in ways that have and will always be part of our humane society.

The U.S. Constitution was the first constitution in the world, and for its time, it was an outstanding document. For this reason, the subsequent constitutions could not ignore the experience of the drafters of the U.S. Constitution. The U.S. Constitution (including the Bill of Rights) had great influence on modern policy documents: the Declaration of Human and Civil Rights of 1789 and the Polish Constitution of 1791.

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

The first approved document of the United States was the Articles of Confederation. However, after a few years, the Bill of Rights replaced the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution. The Articles began the Constitution but the articles had contained a lot of weaknesses so they had to create a new document.

The formation of government is one of the central themes for both Hobbes and Locke. Whether or not men naturally form a government, or must form a government, is based on man’s basic nature. According to Hobbes, a government must be formed to preserve life and prevent loss of property. According to Locke, a government arises to protect life and property. Governments are born of inequality and formed to administer equality.

Enlightenment philosophers, John Locke and Thomas Hobbes had different theories about the social contract between government and the governed. John Locke believed in the government while Hobbes believed that the government should have full control. John Locke view on government proved successful than Thomas Hobbes.

John Locke and Thomas Hobbes were two main political philosophers during the seventeenth century. Hobbes is largely known for his writing of the “Leviathan”, and Locke for authoring "An Essay Concerning Human Understanding." Included in their essays, both men discuss the purpose and structure of government, natural law, and the characteristics of man in and out of the state of nature. The two men's opinion of man vary widely. Hobbes sees man as being evil, whereas Locke views man in a much more optimistic light. While in the state of nature and under natural law, they both agree that man is equal. However, their ideas of natural law differ