We The People The Constitution, a document crafted by our founding father, is the very roots of our nation. The Constitution was not written over night, in fact, it took the minds of many intellectuals who studied past government systems and stood for one main idea, limitation of government and the freedom of the people. A European philosopher, known as John Locke, stood for the natural rights of human beings, which is a massive concept in our Constitution. Another main point that impacted our Constitution was the Petition of Rights, which laid out basic freedoms that the government couldn't interfere with. Lastly, the Articles of Confederation, was created, and ended up being the base for our Constitution we have today. John Locke, the Petition of Rights, and the Article of Confederation all had major impacts on the creation of our Constitution. …show more content…
In his writings, he proclaimed his opinion of mans natural right. He believed every man had the right to life, liberty, and property. That the government should put its efforts into protecting these God given rights, for the power the government holds is given to it by the people. Locke states, “But though men, when they enter into society give up the equality, liberty, and executive power they had in the state of Nature into the hands of society. . . ” He is explaining the sacrifices people make by moving into an organized society. He states that by giving up these things, protection is placed upon the persons property, because governments make laws to protect each citizens rights. However, in some cases, when the general public believe fit, the people can remove their legislative power. They then can replace it with someone who respects the power given to them, and follows the peoples wishes instead of their own
In his Second Treatise on Government Locke focus’ on liberalism & capitalism, defending the claim that men are by nature free and equal against the idea that God had made all people subject to a king. He argued that people have ‘natural rights’, such as the right to life, liberty, and property, that hold the foundation for the major laws of a society. He says, “…we must consider, what state all men are naturally in, and that is, a state of perfect freedom to order their actions, and dispose of their possessions and persons as they think fit.” (2nd Treatise, Chapter 2, sec 4). John Locke used this claim, that all men were naturally free and equal, for understanding the idea of a government as a result of a social contract. This is where people in the state of nature transfer some of their rights to the government in order to better guarantee the steady and comfortable enjoyment of their lives, liberty, and property.
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.
The United States Constitution was an important document that changed history and a flexible document that could adapt to future challenges for many reasons. This important document replaced the Articles of Confederation, which had many problems from the beginning. Over time, the Constitution has also been amended to meet the challenges in the future.
In 1783, the Americans triumphed in the American Revolution, which granted independence from Great Britain. After their victory, it became evident that the new country would need a secure and central government to thrive. The Constitution is a document formed to aid the new republic and ensure that it would become and remain stable. It gives a complete and thorough outline of the rights that all citizens are entitled to have. However, prior to the ratification of the Constitution there had to be many debates and factors that influenced the idea of such a document that would form the basis for the United States. The creation of the Constitution was a result of America’s perseverance through certain political, economic, and social issues of the 1780s. Even through the unfavorable circumstances, America was able to devise a doctrine that would become to be known as the basis for the greatest country in the world; the US
Another thing that the Founding Fathers wrote into the Articles of Confederation that they agreed upon is human nature. It is something that everyone has unless by some chance you are not human. Human nature is how people act and react to basically everything. Pretty much everything calls for someone to do it, regardless of what it is. Such as chop firewood, feed the farm animals, and things that people would have to do back in the days of the Founding Fathers.
John Locke believed that all people had the same natural rights of life, liberty, and property. As John Locke said, “...the power of the society or legislative constituted by them can never be supposed to extend farther than the common good...” (Two Treatises of Government, 1690). Locke means that the government doesn’t have any power to impose laws onto the people unless those laws are created for the common good of the people. John Locke also said that “...the legislative shall transgress this fundamental rule of society, and either by ambition, fear, folly, or corruption, endeavor to grasp themselves, or put into the hands of any other, an absolute power over the lives, liberties, and estates of the people, by this branch of trust they forfeit the power the people had put into their hands for quite contrary ends...”
The constitution is a distinguished american document because the men of the eighteenth century put so much effort into fabricating it. After declaring their freedom from England with the Declaration of Independance the colonies needed to form their own government. It would not be a king. The congressmen worked strenuously to create the fairest government for everyone—deliberately excluding a king from their plan. They debated and compromised until the constitution was just right. Proudly the gentlemen called the new government a federal republic. In this type of government the people, who are citizens of America, voted for lawmakers and representatives. The people could choose representatives they thought would
John Locke once said that “If government fails to fulfill the end for which it was established the preservation of the individual’s right to life, liberty, and property…” What Locke meant is in a society the people and the government have a social contract where the people give some of their rights in exchange for the protection of their lives and remaining liberties. The liberties that we are entitled to can be derived from the state of nature where all men are born free. The state of nature and Locke’s Second Treatise on Government were written during the age of the Enlightenment. The age of the Enlightenment has influenced major events throughout history such as the French and American revolutions and still has influence in our society today. The influence of the age of the Enlightenment can be seen in the
John Locke believed that every man had natural rights, which meant everyone is born with certain rights that couldn’t be taken away from one and others. For example John Locke said, which meant that everyone is equal, and no one can put another down due to his/her feeling of themselves. He believed that these rights were life, liberty, and property. Locke believed if the people gave some of their freedoms to their ruler, then the ruler could not take away the people’s Natural Rights. This was called the Social Contract.
Written and signed over 200 years ago, the U.S constitution remains as the very foundation of the American Government. The purpose of the constitution is written right into the document, and sets an overall standard of the laws of the land. It was written to form a Union of Americans, keep them protected and at peace, and ensure there will be Justice in the blossoming country.
John Locke was the man who began to express the idea of natural rights. The idea of natural rights is that all humans are born with three natural rights: life, liberty, and property. You are meant to respect these rights, which gives us limits as humans. For example, one can not just rob someone’s house without consequences. If someone does commit theft they are punished because they are
Just because someone has more than another person, that person does not have the right to over poer the person with less. In short, Locke believes the people have legitimate political power and the citizen and state are equal, they must coexist
John Locke was a firm believer of the people. However, his beliefs went against the idea of the divine rights of kings. Locke argued that people have rights; the right to life, liberty, and property. The claim argued by Locke was that the power is always in the hands of the people and since the power is with the people they are able to select and remove anyone who does not fulfill their wishes as a community or uphold their human rights. Natural laws and natural rights were two of Locke’s political concepts; natural law can be discovered by logic alone and applies to everyone and natural rights are privileges or claims to which a person is entitled to. Locke argued these concepts because the government was not fulfilling the natural laws or rights; while being under the divine rights of kings, the monarch was able to create laws that did not apply to everyone and that were discovered by God’s chosen one (the monarch). With that being said the monarch could take advantage of the people and allow for no freedom, without any justifications, Locke however, did not believe in unfair acts or judgements; his major interest was individual liberty. In 1689 and 1690 John Locke published his book, “Treatises of Government,” the first treatise Locke stated there was no divine right for monarchs to rule, his argument was, God did not put some men above others, therefore everyone should be considered equal and their should be no higher power. In the second Treatise Locke challenges Hobbes and puts forth a liberal interpretation of the state of nature, “Man is free and in this condition all men are equal.” Locke’s concept of the state of nature is found in his second book, “Treatises of Government,” it states, “Men living according to reason, without a common superior on earth, to judge between them, is properly the state of nature.” Locke believed that once people became free, independent, and equal they would soon work together and form a social contract, leading into a free government lead by the people. Therefore the only justifications for government comes from people’s willingness to surrender some freedom and be governed. Locke put forth a very strong political campaign, the thoughts of the people being in power and
Locke’s have developed different views on human nature. He states, that all the men should have natural right to get private property and protection should a top priority of the government. Locke’s powerful quotes states that the men should have the right to life, liberty and property. He depends on human reason to give citizens their freedom and their right to protect it. This freedom is the foundation of the individual’s way of life and their human rights. A threat to an individual’s freedom can be extended to be a threat to many other aspects of the individual to take away their freedom. One of the Locke’s quote states, “Master and servant are names as old as history, but
The U.S. Constitution established America 's national government and fundamental laws, and guaranteed certain basic rights for its citizens. It was signed on