We The People, Have John Locke to Thank

John Locke’s influence on modern politics stands today because he is credited with being the most influential man to help with the foundation of The United States. Our Declaration of Independence states that Americans have the inalienable right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, which are a combination of Locke’s words from his Second Treatise of Government and An Essay Concerning Human Understanding.
In his Second Treatise of Government, Locke he redefined how a government should operate. Locke states that a ruler gains authority through the consent of the governed, i.e. the people. Locke also expresses that if a government becomes tyrannical and no longer serves the people, that the people have a right to replace it with a new government. These ideas are what the founding fathers brought with them when they founded The United Stated and with them the revolutionary American spirit was born.

Although there are some contradicting ideas that Locke presents such as the idea that men are born naturally free, as opposed to subject to a monarch, but later shows supports to human enslavement, it has to be taken into account that Locke’s ideas were also born under the expansion and colonization of the British Empire and it can be determined that that had some influence on his works.

Overall, John Locke’s ideals that the people come first and government second, were passed down through time and are still the reason people are so adamant about their rights and defend their amendments. The founding fathers took Locke’s words, which came out of seeing what was not working in his country, and used them to build a country that valued the opposite. For the sake of the principals that this country was founded on, it is important that the people remember, and keep alive the idea that they should protect themselves first and keep in mind that the government is here to serve them, not the other way around.


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