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by Milap Patel Abstract
Introduction
Section 1: BackgroundLife In England During The Time Of John Locke
This was clearly not the case during his time. The kings of England, King Charles II and King James II, were abusive of their power, forcing their will on the citizens by passing laws that favored their religious views. These laws caused the people of England misery over religious matters. As such, the people considered monarchy in England a form of tyranny where they believed monarchy stripped them of their freedom and demoted them to a form of slavery, a form where they were forced to obey the unjust king. Furthermore, the people of England considered their ruling government to fail at its obligations to the people and because of this they called for a new form of government that favored the people as a whole, not just a few. These thoughts eventually led to the Glorious Revolution, which took place in 1688, in which the tyrannical monarchy of England was overthrown. Locke's philosophical view on politics in his work, the Two Treatises Of Government, had a major influence on this movement where he tried to justify the fall of monarchy and a creation of a new form of government for the people. [2] [3] Evaluation Of Two Treatises of Government
The State Of Nature
The State Of War
Property is a key subject Locke brings up in Chapter V of the Second Treatise. In this chapter, he links the human's behavior of acquiring property to the state of war when humans are living in the state of nature. Locke begins this chapter by first stating that the Earth is considered the property of all the people where the people can use it for their collective survival and benefit. Locke writes, "God gave the World to Men in Common, but he gave it to them for their benefits, and the greatest Conveniences of Life they were capable to draw form it." Locke then considers the concept of individual property where individuals take possession of the things around them when in the state of nature. He says, "Human nature is very much that of man as the property-acquiring animal in the state of nature." In other words, Locke is suggesting that humans tend to take possessions of things around them and call them their property. This, however, brings up the question of ownership. Locke defines ownership as labor performed by a person. He writes, "Every man has a Property in his Person. This body has any Right to but himself. The Labour of his Body and the Work of his Hands, we may say, are properly his...For this Labour being the unquestionable Property of the Laborer." In other words, Locke says that a person owns his own body and all the labor performed by that body. Labor then leads to the ownership of property that the labor relates to. Now, when another person adds his own physical labor, which is his own property, to a foreign object or material, then that object and any resulting products also become his property. But in a state of nature, there are no common law to determine who owns what part of an object or fruits of collective labor since each person has his own idea of possession. This ultimately leads to the state of war over the conflict of possession where the resolution ends in violence and dominance of the fittest. [8] [9] Call For A Government
Locke's View Against Monarchy
Locke, further, goes on to say that monarchy became abusive in England over time. He says that the kings, or the ruling individuals, thought they had the divine right of the kings, granted to them by God, to rule their people as they saw fit. Filmer, in his book called Patriarcha supported this notion by saying that every man is born a slave to the natural born kings. He justifies this claim by relating it to religion, saying that Biblical Adam, in his role as father, was granted ultimate power, by God, over his children and his authority passed down through the generations. In other words, Filmer basically said that the kings were Adam's heirs who held the ultimate power, granted to them by the God, over the residents of this world. [14] Locke opposed Filmer's notion, in the First Treatise. He said that every man had the ability to virtuously govern himself according to God’s law where enslaving mankind, as he saw it, was "a vile and miserable an estate of man." He believed that the world was originally held in common where God's grant to Adam covered only the land and brute animals, not human beings. In other words, he believed that God did not grant the kings the right to impose their rule on other people. Locke further supports his view by saying that if Filmer is correct on his theory of divine right of the kings, then there should only be one rightful king in all the world, which being Adam's heir. This, however, will be impossible to discover, meaning that no government, under Filmer's principles, can require its members to obey the God appointed rulers, including England. [15] Better Government For The People
Right Of Rebellion
Section 2: Deliverable
Locke's Influence On The American Revolution
This was clearly a form of rule that Locke would oppose. First of all, Locke was against the idea of tyranny which is outlined in the Two Treatises Of Government explained above. As he saw it, tyranny emerged when the government stopped benefiting its people. This is exactly what the Stamp Act did where it benefited the British government but not the colonists as explained above. Locke, in this case, would call for a rebellion against this injustice and it is exactly what the colonists did. The colonist rebelled against this act with violent mobs that would intimidate stamp collectors into resigning. Their intentions were to have the British government repeal the unjust Stamp Act. Britain complied with the colonist's request of repealing the Stamp Act, but they imposed other acts in its place, such as the Declaratory Act, the Quartering Act, Townshend Acts and Tea Act. These acts continued to raise revenue for the British government along with further restricting the colonist's freedom. [20] At this point, the colonists felt like they were slaves who were forced to serve a foreign tyrannical government who stripped them of their liberty. Furthermore, the colonists had no representation in their ruling government meaning that this government was not for the people. As such, the colonists called for a revolution, the American Revolution, to overthrow tyrannical British rule over the colonies. Their intentions were to form their own government that would benefit its people. This, once again, is clearly what Locke outlined in the Two Treatises Of Government where he says that the government is for the benefit of the people and if it is not, then it should be overthrown through a revolution. Locke's Influence On The American Government
How Is Locke's Political Philosophy Seen In America Today
Conclusion
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