Summary Of John Locke : Second Treatise Of Civil Government

From Aristotle to John Locke to Thomas Jefferson, the ideas of great philosophers influenced the foundations of the United States. When Jefferson began writing the Declaration of Independence, he wanted to make this new country based on the basic fundamentals. He wanted to base the country on what was considered the natural laws. Jefferson had many philosophical minds to ponder when writing the document, such as Aristotle and most importantly John Locke.

Baron de Montesquieu, a early French philosophe, rejected absolutism in favor of Britain's limited monarchy. He admired the British in that they protected themselves from tyranny by dividing themselves into three branches. He felt that separation of powers and checks and

In the state of nature, natural law governs the behavior of each individual. This means that each person has the ability to implement that law

John Locke had many accomplishments. John Locke has public may significance writing; Essay Concerning Human Understanding in 1689, Two Treaties of Government in 1690, and Letters Concerning Toleration in 1689-1692. John Locke’s “Essay Concerning Human Understanding” defined the theory of human knowledge, identity and selfhood. In his “Two Treatises of Government” believing that the legitimacy of government relies on consent from its citizens which is given on the basis of equality. A government has the duty to protect the natural rights of its people, if they fail to protect these rights, the citizen have the right to overthrow the government. This writing shows John Locke beliefs in “life, liberty, and property.” In his “Letters Concerning Toleration,”

Baron de Montesquieu sees the people as sovereign exclusively in a democracy and act through elected bodies or ministers. Since the people have the sole power to enact laws, the rules of suffrage are vital to a successful democracy. Following closely is the need for a fixed amount of active citizens in an assembly. As such, the essence of his democracy revolves around the need for love of the laws and of the country. (Montesquieu Bk. 4 Pt. 5) Likewise, frugality is important because it allows all of society to share a similar level of enjoyment and advantages that a democracy brings. When the populace look to frugality, enhanced public services are made available. Consequently, there is a law of

Through the whole of the Letters, and the tale of the Troglodytes, Montesquieu is, in addition to philosophical questions, stumbling upon a question made clear by the theme of this week's readings: Why Government?

Montesquieu believed that everything was made up of laws or rules that never changed. He wrote the book The Spirit of the Laws, which greatly covers the importance of separation of power in balancing the control of the

Baron de Montesquieu ( mainly known as Montesquieu) was born around January 18, 1689 in La Brède, France, and died around February 10, 1755 in Paris, France. He was a widely read philosopher who believed that liberty was a natural right. Montesquieu’s accomplishments include introducing the idea of three different branches of government including making laws, enforcing laws, and interpreting laws. Montesquieu’s idea of the three branches of government contributed to the US Constitution as the separation of powers. Montesquieu was a writer, political philosopher, and a French lawyer.

While reading the “The Second Treatise of Government,” you can notice and see that John Locke has a strong standing for civil rights as well as helping with the development of the Constitution of the United States. He states that the “consent of the governed,” is basically saying that communities are not put together by the divine right or ruled by. Paternal, familial, and political are types of powers that John Locke mentions that have all have unlike characteristics. He inspired others to believe in and want equal rights and democracy. John Locke talks about the state of nature, which basically states that no one has the power to be ruler of someone, as well as they are able to do what they want in a freely matter. In other words people are born just like anyone else that is born, and should have equally rights to property, health, and liberty, and that no one should have the power over anyone. Everyone should be able to live and enjoy his or her own freedom and wellbeing. However, the state of nature is not a guarantee to have natural laws, which could help with the protecting of one’s property. According to him having your own personal freedom was the true meaning of state of nature. John Locke thought that people were following his faith in human rationality through the declaration of Locke. John Locke states that if the government takes away from others for them to empower them then the people have right and opportunity to go against

The Second Treatise of Government provides Locke's theorizes the individual rights and involvement with the government; he categorizes them in two areas -- natural rights theory and social contract. 1.Natural state; rights which human beings are to have before government comes into being. 2.Social contact; when conditions in natural state are unsatisfactory, and there's need to develop society into functioning of central government.

John Locke, an English philosopher, also known as the father of Classical Liberalism, said in 1690 from “Two Treatises on Government”;

The constitution splits the power given to national government into three branches, which are separate from each other: the legislature, the executive, and the judiciary. The separation of powers was based on the ideas of Montesquieu, with him ‘L’esprit de lois’ which means the spirit of the law. The executive plays the role of administrating law. The president does this in many ways , for example he; executes federal laws and programs, conducts foreign policy , commands the armed forces, negotiates treaties and other such roles. Checks and balances another main factor of the constitution comes in here, as the people get to keep a check on the president every 4 years with the presidential election, which stops any tyranny of powers. This can also be seen in another branch of government. The legislature passes law, this is done through congress. Congress is made up of the Senate and the House of Representatives. Its roles include;

A monarch is in control. You are being what to do by someone you do not even want ruling your country. What could you do? This is how your world works, it’s always worked like this, so why change it? Simply change it because you are unhappy with the way the world is, you deserve to enjoy the country you live in. That there, change the society, is exactly what the Enlightenment thinkers wanted to do. The Enlightenment thinkers are a group of people who found countless flaws in the way people decided to run the countries. Therefore, of all the Enlightenment thinkers, I believe John Locke, David Hume, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau impacted the world the most due to them having a full grasp on the ideologies of humanity.

Locke feels that this system of government is lacking in that the ruler has all control, and may not be stopped in abuses of power, which Locke fears. Humans beings decide to form a society out of the state of nature because there must be unity among men in order to protect one another, and so that they may punish offenders of the justice. Men do this under the rule of an indivdual who is selected by the people, and to whom the people give up some of their personal rights.Though humans give up certain rights to the chosen authoriy, they are entitled to certain rights reserved to them alone, which they hold within the society. All members of the society should be equal under the law of justice, and that no man is better than another, since all men are created equal, and all are equal before the laws of nature. The law of nature states that people attain property through the labour they do.The ruler or authority over a society should be an indivdual

However a long train of abuses against the people show an inherent flaw in the system that stands to be corrected either by the government or the people. On the other hand, those in power are more likely to do their duty to appease the people because of the right the people have to overthrow the government. Locke states that that fact is the main reason for the government to behave. Even so, the government may become predatory with its power and contrary to the trust people have in it; if there is a breach in any governmental power, to either take away and/or destroy the property of the people as a tyrannical act, they become in a state of war with the people. Also, if at any time the legislative branch of government that constructs the law is altered and no longer represent the wishes of the people it represents, the general contract between the government and its people are broken.