Ivan Shatov: A Patriot

The identity of a society is verified through the rights which are given to the citizens. The rights of man have been at many different standards throughout time. Often being very one sided, and at times striving for a median between the two sides. In Edmund Burke's essay Reflections on the Revolution in France Burke states that a king is in one sense a servant but in everyday situations they are above every individual. All persons under him owe him a legal agreement to serve his hopes. This essay will demonstrate why Thomas Paine's essay The Rights of Man is more convincing than Edmund Burke's through examination of a heredity government, the nature of rights and the uselessness of the monarchy.

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.

The United States Constitution has a great impact on American’s life. The U.S. Constitution recognized America’s national government, fundamental laws, and guaranteed certain basic rights for its citizens. Out of all the philosophers, John Locke’s philosophy had the greatest impact on the decisions that were made at the Philadelphia Convention and the writing of the United States Constitution. Locke introduced the ideas of natural rights and limited government.

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

This ideology is embraced during the French Revolution as “before the revolution, French society was grounded in the inequality of rights,” among the citizens. (Spielvogel578) The French were divided into classes, having no voice among the three estates, leading to the national assembly. The national assembly, influenced by John Locke’s ideology of rejecting royal reign superiority, created the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. Locke’s argument of revolution against tyranny was accepted to bring reasonable rule to the nation and citizens. The same liberalist view of overthrowing of ruler is seen during the napoleon rule. Benjamin Constant published The Principles of Politics advocating for the regulations of the generals will of the individuals liberty, “distinguishing between sovereignty, authority, and individual freedom,” right before Napoleon’s final defeat. (Primary Sources 342)

A patriot is a person who loves, supports, and defends his or her country and its interests with devotion (“The Definition of Patriot.”). Patriots can be leaders and/or heros. Patriots are willing to do anything can to support the cause they believe in. Three people that are considered patriots are Sybil Ludington, Henry Knox, and Nathanael Greene. America was able to defeat the British thanks to all of the patriots that contributed.

His writings had a great impact in the perception of the leaders of America. John Locke was an English philosopher who highly influenced the Founding Fathers. He highly believed in natural science and in the growing middle class and represented the principles of the Enlightenment. In an essay Locke wrote concerning human understanding in 1690, Locke denied the idea of native beliefs and argued that every individual is born with a blank mind and that it is the environment that shapes the individual. Thomas Hobbes 's belief that kings govern by divine power was rejected by Locke. He believed that every human being was born equal and that the surroundings in the environment was what molded everyone. Locke argued that people are blessed with some natural rights such as liberty, life, and property. Locke was the philosopher that exposed the concept of governmental checks and balances which later became the foundation for the U. S. Constitution.

Beginning in 1789, the French Revolution was a time of rebellion, passion, betrayal, death, violence, and perseverance. Before 1789, King Louis XVI was taxing his poorest people heavily, whilst the rich were hardly taxed at all. The socioeconomic system in place at the time, known as the ancien regime, ruthlessly upheld the status quo. When the tension in France rose to a boiling point, fiery, young rebels to rose up against the Monarchy, the Ancien Regime, and the Clergy. These revolutionaries desperately wanted change, and they had three main principles around which their movement centered: Liberté, Égalité, and Fraternité. Liberty is the freedom to do as one pleases so long as one’s actions do not unjustifiably harm others. Equality is being considered the same. Fraternity is a sense of brotherhood and companionship. The goals of the French Revolution were initially achieved with alacrity, however they were abandoned with relative quickness as malcontented leaders quested for, and abused, power and authority.

They had been in love with the thought of liberty and believed foreseen rights for man would be good for man’s nature. Knowingly experiencing tyranny from the grand countries, the Fathers constructed the Constitution very carefully in order to avoid tyranny and a government for the people, by the people, and of the people would be developed. The First Amendment was created to ensure that the government would not and could not interfere with American citizens basic civil rights. Being that this Amendment was so important, many states refused to approve such documents as the Constitution until there were amendments that would protect people’s rights in the future. The Founding Fathers made the constitution to where eventually even in today’s days it would protect the rights of American citizens. There is always leeway with in the amendments to where not only does it protect the people of the past, but it protects the

There were ideas back in the beginning that were b=very influential on the founding fathers. Those ideas in with what they believed to make a good, fair government has set the foundation of the democracy that we know today. An idea that was very influential to the founding fathers was natural rights. Natural rights came from the philosopher John Locke, and he said that they are the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. In America every person is deemed these rights from birth. This means that no matter where in the country you are born, you have a right to live, own land, and find happiness. Natural rights also had a major impact on the Constitution, because when writing it, they ultimately became the Bill of Rights which are the first 10 amendments. Another idea that was crucial in influencing the founding fathers was the social contract, which is the mutual protection and welfare or to protect the relations among the members. This means that in some cases, people will

Many philosophers and theorists have spoken on the value, or lack thereof, of revolution. In Second Treatise of Government, John Locke builds the concept of a “social contract,” which outlines responsibilities of the government and what can be done if the state fails to uphold its duties.  Edmund Burke views political rebellion in a different light. He writes in Reflections on the Revolution in France that upheaval does excessive harm to the state, and, by extension, the people. While both Locke and Burke agree that rebellion is useful to the growth of a state, they differ on a few main points. First, they disagree in terms of what circumstances warrant revolution. Second, they each believe it should take different forms and work to different extents. Finally, Locke and Burke believe revolution tends to have positive or negative effects, respectively. Their views on each of these points will be discussed in turn.

Of the first benefit, public spirit, DeTocqueville describes two types of patriotism. The first is based on a pride of family and country and “a reverence for traditions of the past,” resulting in a strong felt personal

I believe that the three philosophers that had the greatest impact on the U.S. Constitution are Thomas Hobbes, Niccolo Machiavelli, and John Locke. I agree with Thomas Hobbes why we should obey bad politicians if they take bad decisions that can cause war and hatred. I like how Hobbes stated “The Divine right of kings” we should believe in God but also in some laws of the land. Thanks to Hobbes idea when he wrote “the social contract” now some people united and protest against some bad ideas from the government. I also like his statement of “the mutual relationship between protection and obedience”. We should obey the rules that will not cause any violence among each other.

Like Rousseau, Burke too believes in freedom liberty of man in the broad sense of the word (Burke, 3). Liberty and freedom are important, but not enough to be allowed to completely upset the natural order. Burke sees man as being born constrained by the and traditions of his ancestors. These traditions include the institutions by which man is governed. Burke attributes the further development and flourishing of society to the maintenance of the natural order and the respect and upholding of these traditions. (Placeholder1)