How Did The Magna Carta Influence American Government

The word Social Contract theory was first used by Thomas Hobbes to define royal authority. However John Locke who wrote the two treaties on government” in the 1680’s reinforce the meaning of a new social contract theory. In his version of social contract, he stated “men surrendered a part of their right to govern them selves in order to enjoy the benefits of the rule of law”(Foner, 149). In his argument, natural right such as life, liberty and proper play a huge role. According to Locke, Government or political system is form by equal individuals (mainly men of a household). Although men surrendered part of their right to govern to enjoy the benefits of the rule of law, they do retain the natural right of protecting of liberty, life and property against any local or foreign enemies. According to Locke and the

In comparing Thomas Jefferson’s Letter to the Danbury Baptists, The Declaration of Independence, and U.S. Constitution, it is evident that the basis of all three documents is the idea that all human beings possess God-given fundamental rights and that government is created to protect those rights. The Declaration of Independence, written by Thomas Jefferson in 1776, is the first of the three documents penned. This is important because it defined the rights of liberty and equality of all American citizens as outlined in John Locke’s natural law thesis (Martin, page 113). In addition to providing an itemized account of the grievances colonist’s held against King George III of England, it served to justify the colonist’s quest for independence and separation from British rule. The Declaration of Independence conveyed to the crown that "all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, which among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." The Founders’ of the New World understood that their pursuit of liberties and autonomy specified in the Declaration of Independence could not come to fruition without instituting decrees. In 1787, the U.S. Constitution, was written to replace the Articles of Confederation with a better defined series of stringent laws that would legally uphold the freedoms and privileges established in the Declaration of Independence. The First Amendment of the Bill of Rights in

President Abraham Lincoln said, “We the people are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution.” Lincoln was talking about how the people control the government, and the people should not try to overthrow the government (since they control it). The Magna Carta blazed the trail for due process, coming out of a tyranny. John Locke brought about the ideas of natural rights, while the Mayflower Compact showed that a group of people could work together to be part of a thriving, self-government. The Magna Carta, John Locke, and the Mayflower Compact’s idea on government; which influenced the American government, by its ideas on rights and the social contract, made American society want to gain rights and make a fair, equal government, due to the British government restricting rights.

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 structure of our American Government was founded in the Constitution of the United States. The Constitution was written to be the “supreme law of the land,” and produces a democratic republic, where citizens govern themselves (Our American Government, n.d). The purpose of our government, is to “establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessing of liberty to ourselves and our posterity” (Our American Government, n.d.). For our country to accomplish this purpose our Founding Fathers created three principles, “inherent rights, self-government, and separation of powers” (Our American Government, n.d.). The government was developed to ensure order in society and protect its citizens, but with all systems, there is strengths and weakness, let’s examine those strengths and weakness. Let’s first look at the strength and weakness of the U.S. Constitution.

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 Declaration of Independence uses many of the beliefs that are central to Locke’s Two Treaties of Government, which are all still very important to us today. Beliefs such as all people are equal, their natural rights, and the government’s role in its citizens lives was the foundation to building the United States the world knows today. The focal points in their two documents are almost exactly the same; Locke emphasizes people’s natural rights in the statement “that being all equal and independent, no one ought to hurt ones life, liberty, or property", while Jefferson highlights them by saying “they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness." It is commonly speculated that Jefferson’s first draft of Declaration of Independence actually copied Locke verbatim by saying “life, liberty, and property”, rather than “pursuit of happiness”. While this has never been proven, it shows how Jefferson utilized Locke’s ideas.

The Magna Carta was an agreement between King John of England and his baron’s that limited his powers over the kingdom. Article 29 of the Magna Carta exemplifies the limitations of the king in favor of the people by stating, “No freeman is to be taken or imprisoned or disseised of his free tenement or of his liberties or free customs, or outlawed or exiled or in any way ruined, nor will we go against such a man or send against him save by lawful judgement of his peers or by the law of the land. To no-one will we sell or deny of delay right or justice” (Article 29 of the Magna Carta). The Magna Carta was an extraordinary step in history that has helped shape the forms of government that we practice today. This document laid the foundation of the democracies that were yet to come. The creation and implementation of the Magna Carta was a significant historical event that took place during the Middle Ages. Although it is one of few written documents that took place during this time period, it is surely one of the most important events in

The Magna Carta has been a standout amongst the most productive and important documents in history. English Nobles created this paper. They made it to limited the power of the king, protect peoples rights, due process, to show the king has to follow all the same laws the people on his land follow too and many others. The Magna Carta influenced the executive historical process that led to the Rule of Constitutional law, the development of the Common Law, Charters of Freedom and Gettysburg Address. Notably, the U.S Constitution. The following quote from the U.S Constitution supports that is was influenced by the Magna Carta "no person shall ... be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of the law." The Magna Carta's has become

This fresh, new foundation came in the form a document that outlined the way the government would work. Unlike the way Europe was governed before the Enlightenment period, Americans, since they had recently liberated themselves from the British throne, wanted to establish a government in such a way that would prevent tyrannical monarchy. By this time, they still were faced with the challenge of a republican self government. But again, we see the influence of Locke’s ideas from his Treatise, where he proposed that people had the right to establish their own government for their own protection of their natural rights. As a result of this idea, the preamble to the Constitution was created. This section provided analysis as to what the whole Constitution was about; improvement on the current government (to ensure that they are just) and protection for its citizens.

John Locke influenced American Government in many of his ideas. First, one of John Locke’s theories states that “members within a society implicitly agree to the termsof the social contract by their choice to stay within the society.” (Locke1) This theory sets up something similar to the Constitution, with the contract to live under a society to where the people agree to the terms. Secondly, Locke thought that all men were created equal, and that no one has more equality over the next.

The Magna Carta changed the way that America is today as well as the way society was in England 800 years ago. The people of England were tired of the way King John had been treating them. So the barons, the King's go to people, realized that King John was getting too powerful and misusing his power as king. Which initially led to his behavior and how he was treating his barons as well as the people of England. King John's behavior is what led the barons to take matters into their own hands and the greatest document to ever be written in English History was born.

idea that the power of any government should be limited is a very important principle in the American belief system. This idea explains that a government should never gain too much power, and should be limited to a certain extent. The Magna Carta, an important root of the Constitution, supports this principle very well. It was the first document to limit a government power, in this case, the Monarchy of England. The Magna Carta explained the certain powers the King could not have certain powers. These powers included, power of the purse, balance of power, due process of law, rule of law, limited government, and security of private property. Many of these ideas have been included in the United States Constitution.

The U.S. government was founded on three philosophies, naturalism, classical republicanism and constitutionalism. John Locke’s contractual theory of government placed great value on the people’s natural rights. Locke believed that people would willingly complete their civil duties of [paying taxes and serving in the military, in return for the government’s protection and ear. People would do these things only if the government would listen to and protect them. Locke believed that in a natural state, men protect and control their property, but they are in a state of constant danger. When the people unite and form a government, their natural rights of life, liberty and property are protected. Locke believed

“No free man shall be seized or imprisoned, or stripped of his rights or possessions, or outlawed or exiled, or deprived of his standing in any way”. If this sounds familiar, it's because it is a law developed in the Magna Carta that is now seen in the U.S. Constitution. King John was the ruler of England during the 13th century. While he was ruler, he lost many battles, which caused England to lose the territory of France. Since he kept losing these expensive battles to France, King John decided to raise the taxes on the people in England to pay for the battles. The Barons were not happy because King John did not go to them before raising the taxes, which he is supposed to do. His ruling was very harsh and not very appreciative which caused him to lose the support of many people including the barons and the archbishops. Those groups came together to make a list of things they wanted King John to do and when he rejected this they created an army to defeat him and the Barons overtook London. The Barons said that if he signed the document they'd give him back his power and renew their alliance with him, so King John signed it. This document was called the Magna Carta. The Magna Carta was the most significant influence on our government today because it stated everyone was equal and nobody was above the law, which we see in our government today.