Positive Impact Of John Locke

After years of being subjected to Britain’s constant demands and constricting rules, America decided to pursue the future government and society they desired. They sent a letter to King John III, this letter contained a list of offenses the king had committed, and it also rallied up the colonists to fight for their freedom. This letter, called the Declaration of Independence, was ratified on July 4th, 1776. With the help of five colonists Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence to voice the people’s concerns. This letter ended up impacting how the government developed. The American government was significantly influenced by the Declaration of Independence, which established freedom and more rights for the people, and equality

John Locke was perhaps one of the most influential political philosophers of the modern period. In the Second Treatise of Government, John Locke discusses the move from a state of nature and perfect freedom to a then governed society in which authority is given to a legislative and executive power. His major ideas included liberalism and capitalism, state of nature, state of war and the desire to protect one’s property.

On August 29 1632 John Locke was born in a town named Wrington and lived in a small Somerset village. His mother died when John was at a very young age. His father was a country lawyer and died a couple years after his mother. He went to Westminster in1646 and then Oxford in 1652. In 1666 John started practicing medicine on Lord Ashley. Ashley and Locke became known to become good friends. In 1668 Locke was elected to be in the Royal Society. The Royal Society was for improving natural knowledge. John did a lot of amazing things in his life time and he accomplished a lot and the one thing that influenced John the most was most likely to be that his parents died at a very young age and that usually has a great effect on children that can later lead into adult hood.

The Enlightenment was a period of learning and expanding. It was a shift in society and how people thought. John Locke and his ideas contributed in a major way towards the Enlightenment. Locke had three main philosophies, religious tolerance, all men are born a blank slate, and that the divine right to rule is incorrect. His influence on society helped shape the transition of religion to reason & questioning. Locke left a very powerful and positive impact on England during the seventeenth century.

John Locke was an English writer, and his writings were based on the events that took place during the Glorious Revolution in England in 1689, when the people of England overthrew King James II. John Locke was interestingly enough, brought up in a loyalist and Evangelical family. He was born to a very wealthy family, and received much prestige in Oxford for his connections to the higher ups. Locke presented his ideas of rebellion during the English civil war which took place in the mid-1600s, in favor of the revolts against the King’s rule in England at the time. John Locke graduated with a degree in medicine from Oxford University.

John Locke was born in 1632, in Wrington, England. He studied medicine at the University of Oxford, but he eventually became the great philosopher everyone remembers him as (Connolly, n.d.). In 1688, King William III, supported by the Whigs, took the throne of England from King James II in what is known as the Glorious Revolution (UK Parliament, n.d.). Locke had a strong connection with the Whigs in England, so he wrote the Second Treatise on Government as a justification for the revolution. Throughout the Second Treatise on Government, Locke claims that an individual is born with the rights to “life, liberty, and property.” He believes that it is the governments purpose to preserve these rights with laws which favor neither the rich nor poor. In addition, these laws must be designed for “the good of the people.” Lastly, “[the government] must not raise taxes on the property of the people, without the consent of the people…” (Locke, 1688)

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.

Background Info: Locke was born in 1632 to a wealthy Puritan family and was highly involved in politics during the Glorious Restoration. His witnessing of the effective overthrowing of the government in order to place better suited rulers in power greatly influenced his perspective on government (RJ Lecture).

John Locke strongly influenced American government. In the Declaration of Independence for example, the idea of "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness" was a philosophical idea from Locke. He believed that one who governs must gain authority through the consent of those they govern. Locke also thought that the ones with authority must protect the natural rights of their citizens and if they didn't, then the citizens would have the right to overthrow the government. All these ideas deeply influenced Thomas Jefferson, which is apparent in the Declaration of Independence. His ideas were also used by slavery abolitionist and women suffragist.

John Locke had more influence on the framers of the American Constitution than any other person in the world, even though he died 72 years before Thomas Jefferson even wrote the Declaration of Independence. So how was it possible that John Locke could have had such an overwhelming impact on the founders of the constitution when he wasn’t even alive? In this essay I will explain how he was able to do just that. John Locke was born in 1632 and was one of the best philosophers in England. Locke had a liberal way of thinking in that he was against having a king who ruled over everyone and everything, and not in the same sense that we think of liberalism today.

John Locke was born on August 29th, 1632 in Wrington, Somerset. John’s father was a lawyer and a small landowner. He fought on the parliamentarian side during the English civil war of the 1640s. John attended elite Westminster School. Between 1652 and 1667, John enrolled in Christ Church, Oxford where he was a student and a lecturer. He attended Christ Church so he could study medicine. Medicine has played a large role in his life and he was always fascinated of it. John received an outstanding education because of his father’s connections and allegiance to the English government. He, later on, became a highly influential philosopher, writing about political philosophy, epistemology, and education. John Locke’s writings helped found modern Western philosophy.

John Locke presents ideas within “Toleration and Government” which form a liberal ideology. The aim of this paper is to identify the strengths and weaknesses within John Locke’s ideology. Paragraph I will discuss the main concepts in the text. Paragraph II will identify the ideology’s explanation of political phenomena, it’s criteria and standards of explanation, and it’s cultural and social orientation. Paragraph III exemplifies elements which I found strong within Locke's work.

John Locke was born on August 29, 1632, into a middle class family during late Renaissance England. Locke started his studies at Christ Church in Oxford. He then went into medical studies and received a medical license, which he practiced under Anthony Cooper. They became friends, and when Cooper became Earl of Shaftesbury, Locke was able to hold minor government jobs and became involved in politics. Shaftesbury steered Locke towards the views of a government whose law was fair to all, and all were under the law.

Providing the 17th century world with an alternative, innovative view on philosophy, politics, economics, and education among other interrelated and important aspects of life, John Locke proved to be a person of immense impact. Born in 1632, in Wrington, England, Locke was the author of many known writings which include the Essay Concerning Human Understanding (1689), The Two Treaties of Government (1698), A Letter Concerning Toleration (1689), and Some Thoughts Concerning Education (1693) (Goldie 32). Locke’s writings represent a series of topics involving the purpose of philosophy, emergence of empiricism, and the role as well as limits of governments and churches in terms of liberty and natural rights. In a time where exposure of such

John Locke was born on August 29, 1632 in Wrington, England. His father was a lawyer and had worked in the military during the English civil war. Locke was raised with Puritan beliefs and had received a thorough education because of his dad’s connection to the English government. During his time in school, Locke received the honor of “King’s Scholar” which paved the way for him to attend Christ Church, Oxford in 1652. In Oxford, Locke studied mathematics, metaphysics, and multiple classical languages. He graduated once in 1656 and then returned two years later to continue his study in the field of medicine. He graduated in 1974 with a bachelor's degree (“John Locke”).