Directions: Read the excerpts from John Locke’s Second Treatise of Government and the Declaration of Independence. As you read, think about the similarities and differences between the documents, and then answer the questions below. The resemblance between “the state of nature” and “the Declaration of Independence” are uncanny, Jefferson and Locke are consistently portraying the same ideas whether they mention the transition between the “Law of Nature” to the “Law of a Civil Society” or the concept of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness The founding fathers used the work of John Locke’s Second Treatise of Government as a framework for the Declaration of Independence. The similarities are mainly notable in the claims against the King, but can also be found in the introduction of the letter. Locke said mankind’s ‘original’ condition is ‘a state of perfect freedom’ The core ideas in the Second Treatise are deceptively simple. To understand government, Locke begins with mankind’s “original” condition, which he describes as a prepolitical “state of nature”: men and women in “a state of perfect freedom to order John Locke, Second Treatise of Government (1690) The Declaration of Independence was commissioned and assigned to Jefferson after this resolution, introduced by He advocated the natural equality of human beings, their natural rights to life, liberty, and property, and defined legitimate government in terms that Jefferson would later use in the Declaration of Independence. We would like to show you a description here but the site won’t allow us. Which document does the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence echo? A. John Locke's Second Treatise of Government. 1 / 5. 1 / 5. Flashcards. Learn. Test. [The missing pages, that were to have been included in the Second Treatise, i.e. the second part of the two-part treatise, were simply lost. They contained an extended attack on Sir Robert Filmer’s Patriarcha, a defence of the divine right of kings, published in 1680 (Filmer had died in 1653). Study with Quizlet and memorize flashcards containing terms like The statements below are from the Declaration of Independence. Which statement reflects the Enlightenment ideas of natural law as expressed by Locke?, What did many American colonists use Thomas Paine's "Common Sense" to justify? A)Acts of sabotage against British merchants B)Declaring independence from Britain C)Joining the army Study with Quizlet and memorize flashcards containing terms like Which of the following resulted from the initial attempt at creating an American government?, which one of John Locke's natural rights was not an inalienable right listed in the Declaration of Independence by Thomas Jefferson?, American colonists found appeal in which of the following? and more. His most famous writings, A Letter Concerning Toleration and Second Treatise of Government, both heavily influenced the author of the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson. Many believe much of the most memorable language of the Declaration of Independence is derived from Locke’s works. The Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution are testaments to many of Locke's core ideas. The "Second Treatise" (the second part of Two Treatises on Government) was written during the period preceding the abdication of King James II. Two Treatises of Government, major statement of the political philosophy of the English philosopher John Locke, published in 1689. The first treatise is a refutation of the theory of the divine right of kings, and the second is a philosophical treatment of the origins and limits of political authority. He also finds Locke in the Declaration’s enumeration of our natural rights, although he joins many other writers, again, in noting that the Declaration deviated somewhat from Locke. Where “Locke had spoken of ‘life, liberty, and property’ as being natural rights, Jefferson famously wrote ‘life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.’” The Second Treatise of Government by John Locke and the Declaration of Independence are two of the most influential works of political philosophy in Western history. Both works were written in the 17th and 18th centuries, and both have had a profound impact on the development of liberal democracies around the world. Get in-depth analysis of Declaration of Independence, with this section on John Locke, Second Treatise of Government (1690). This famous treatise on government, which John Locke completed in 1690, was one of the first works to explore the idea of a social contract between the individual and society. The right of the people to revolt against a tyrannical government in the Declaration of Independence is most inspired by John Locke's Second Treatise of Government.Locke, a 17th-century English philosopher, asserted that governments are established by the consent of the governed and that their primary role is to protect the natural rights of individuals, which include life, liberty, and property. In support of his contention, he quoted Locke's Second Treatise of Government,2 wherein Locke, in Section 95, states that once men enter into a community or government for the serving of their mutual interests, "the majority have the right to conclude the rest."
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