John Locke's Two Treatises Of Government

A well known political philosopher named John Locke provided new ideas of government to the colonies. Locke thinks that a society should run under a social contract, which makes citizens, “give up all the power necessary to the ends for which they unite a society” (Doc A). This idea of a united society lets people have a say in the way the government runs. Before independence, Great Britain executed orders without any say from the people.

He believes that the legislative branch is the most important part of the English government. “Their power, in the utmost bounds of it, is limited to the public good of society (pg. 746). Where instead of the law makers only making laws to benefit themselves, they should do what is best for the commonwealth. Locke continues to stay that the legislative’s power should come from the commonwealth. “It is true, governments cannot be supported without great charge, and it is fit every one who enjoys his share of the protection, should pay out of his estate his proportion for the maintenance of it”(pg. 749). Locke states that if someone partakes in the protection and services of the government, they should pay takes in order to help the government. This makes sense, if someone reeks the benefits that the government offers them, than we should contribute to the government. Even if we were or weren’t born in this country, we are old enough to make our decisions so if we do not approve what our government is doing we have one of three options. Act and make changes, leave, or deal with

He believed the people were given divine rights to life, liberty and property. These right were ordained in the garden by God and passed down from Adam to all people. Locke believed the people did need a government, just like Hobbs, but government needed to be limited. The only role for government was to ensure the natural rights of the people. He also believed that the people had the right to revolt if the government failed to support the natural rights of the people. His beliefs in the role of government were influence by the Glorious revolution in 1688-1689 . This was a bloodless confrontation resulted in the oursing of James II and the establishment of Willam III and Mary II. Locke saw how the rules of government played out in a peacable

John Locke argued for individual freedom. If we had individual freedom we would have a strong government. Locke said it was necessary to a good government. Locke wrote “People are naturally free and have the right to maintain their freedom.”(Document A) To keep this freedom people needed to construct a government that has both an executive and a legislature. To Locke a government created by the people was the best government in his futuristic sense of

Locke believed that men essentially were governed by the laws of nature that God created and that the government should reflect in such a

He knew first hand that it could not be a monarchy where the government, because the people have no rights or freedoms and are forced to be submissive to the government of their society. Locke also knew that no government was not the solution to this problem as well, for with no government there is no protection of the people and their rights. Locke came up with the idea of a limited government where there is a government, but the government is limited in the power it has, and it would have to be for the people and by the people. According to Locke governments are formed by the consent of the governed and for the governed, and if at any time the people do not like the government officials they have chosen then the people living in the society could choose to remove and re-elect new government officials. This would make it very different from living in Locke’s era under a monarch, but also different from living in a perfect freedom society.

John Locke was an english philosopher who expressed his idea of civil governments. In the documents, John Locke expresses the idea on what a civil government is formed by. John Locke describes the beginning steps to achieving a political power which is the law of nature. In the law of nature, Locke expresses how men are all free to do as they please without the consent of another man. “We must consider what estate all men are naturally in, and this is, a state of perfect freedom to order their actions, and dispose of their possessions and persons as they think fit, within the bounds of law of Nature, without asking leave of depending upon the will of any other man” (Documents 81)

John Locke was an incredibly encouraging figure in the development of the ideals and methods of political functioning in the United States of America. John Locke applied many of his studies to write one of his most famous and moving works. “The Second Treatises of Government” is the document which ultimately struck the United States in their creation of the Declaration of Independence. In Locke’s work he had focused on the idea that governments shouldn’t be dictated by anyone person, but ultimately should be a united entity in which everyone in the country has a say in what is happening. For example, John Locke believed that the government should be in charge of deciding who should be the leading figure of power and protecting their citizens’ “Life, Liberty, and Property”. He also believed that if the government failed to fulfill their duties of protecting their people and establishing a limit of power for the leading figure of the country, it was the responsibility of the citizens to “overthrow the government.” John Locke kept a similar mindset to that of Hobbes when it comes to the government and its power. Locke’s work and ideas would go on to be highly influential upon Thomas Jefferson during the process of writing the draft of the Declaration of Independence. In this document Jefferson kept very close ties to Locke’s ideas to create what he believed would be the ideal government.

English philosopher and political theorist, John Locke experienced the English Civil Wars first-hand which would later prompt him to question the purpose and structure of government. The wars were the result of conflict between a king who claimed absolute authority by divine right and a Parliament that believed itself to have authority independent of the crown. The English Civil Wars provided the context in which Locke would develop the arguments for his most famous work, the Second Treatise of Government. In the work, Locke begins by claiming that without the existence of government humans exist in a state of nature. Since there is no governing body in the state of nature individuals are free to

Firstly, he argues that the "Care of Souls" cannot be entrusted to a Magistrate more than any other man.  People are individually responsible for their own salvation, and no man has been given a natural authority over another man's salvation.  After all, according to the dominant religious traditions, all men are equal in the eyes of God.  Even in the absence of natural authority, one cannot even confer an artificial authority to a Magistrate.  Why?  Because salvation is an individual responsibility.  But what if the Magistrate were to enact a law contrary to religious belief?  In such a case, civil obedience would mean hypocrisy - and this would be immoral.  One must never be made to choose between religion and state.  Secondly, the Magistracy wields only an outward force, whereas true salvation lies in one's inward resolve.  He writes:  "Such is the nature of the Understanding, that it cannot be compell'd [sic] to the belief of any thing by outward force."2  Moreover, enjoining righteousness is not the monopoly of the Magistracy; it is a right belonging to all people.  Thirdly, Locke argues that with so much disparity between religious opinions, all states would be in conflict.  In such cases, he argues:

John Locke was been one of Americas most significant figures who influence how the country’s political system works today. Locke redefined the whole nature of the government, his views were similar to Thomas Hobbes’ ideas (Hobbes concluded that people are incapable of ruling themselves because it’s in our nature to self-centered not need to a strong leader to control us), however Locke was more optimistic about people’s ability to reason to help avoid tyranny. In Locke’s Second Treatise of Government he identified the basis to a reasonable government. According to Locke a ruler should gain their authority by the people who will be governed because the duty of the government is to protect the natural rights its people (life, liberty, and property), and said that if the government failed to protect these rights, the people should have the right to overthrow its government. These ideas greatly influence Thomas Jefferson when writing the Declaration of Independence. Federalism has also greatly impacted the political system in the United States because it’s the relationship between the authority and people. There are many ways the government can be divided. For example, a cooperative federalism is when the federal government governs unlimitedly and forces lower governments to supervise and enforce national

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.

John Locke (1632-1704) and William Godwin (1756-1836) were both English philosophers. Locke and Godwin discuss their views on the origin, purpose as well as extent of authority of a government in their publications. Locke felt that government originated from a social contract and advocated governments which respected their citizens while Godwin saw any form of government as a form of evil thus he advocated self-government and believed that having no government was the ideal state but in the event of being under a government, minimal authority should be exercised. This essay discusses the difference in their views and I will pay attention to the extent of government authority.

The the article “A letter concerning toleration,” John Locke argues for toleration of people unaffiliated with religion in a society. Locke’s feeling of how the Christian Church was coercing the people to believe its doctrine did not actually save a soul. He saw the the coercion against Christ's teaching and the Church should turn away from those coercive dealing if they truly were worried about the salvation of the people’s soul. I affirm Locke's notion that one is not saved through acts of the body, but of belief in the mind.

He claimed that in every state there should be a communication from the citizens to the government, because he considered the people as the main part to form a state, in which there is a contract between the leaders and the citizens. After the death of Hobbes, the British scholar John Locke composed Two Treatises of Government that were written in 1690, in which he did not accept the idea that kings and queens had a "divine right" to rule others, therefore he presented a theory in politics which claims that governments should be created among free people as social contracts. Moreover, he argued that the leaders got their power from the consent of the governed, and held their power as public trust, and the people can judge the performance of the government, the standard he named as public opinion. Furthermore, he stated that the role of the state is to use its power to control people and protect their rights including life, freedom, and property, and in return people can rebel against their government if the latter did not protect them. Locke also stated that the government should be separated into various branches and each branch should have limited powers that satisfy its function, and give freedom and protection for people against any tyrannical powers as he said in his Two Treatises on Government: “The natural liberty of man is to be free from any