Thomas Paine

Thomas Jefferson

and Government

John Locke

Enlightenment Ideas

• Enlightenment: New ways of perceiving the world. People began asking, “WHY?”

• The same principles of logic were applied to social systems.

Government

• What is a government?

•What does a government do? •Who creates governments?

People create governments…why?

John Locke: Social Contract TheorySecond Treatise of Government (1689)

• In nature, people have no government•People create a government to protect their lives, liberty, and property

The Contract is an exchange

people get a government that protects as long as the people

obey the rule of law.

• Governments exist to serve the needs of the people who create them. Monarchy –people exist to serve the king. Monarchy does not follow the laws of nature and logic.

The Problem We All Live With by Norman Rockwell

“The state of nature has a law of nature to govern it, which treats everyone equally…[B]eing equal and independent, no one ought to harm another in his life, health, or possessions.” ~John Locke

Flag with Male Symbol by Dave Cutler

“The old [traditions] are apt to lead men into mistakes, as this [idea] of [fatherly] power’s probably has done, which seems so [eager] to place the power of parents over their children wholly in the father, as if the mother has no share in it. Whereas if we consult reason or [the Bible], we shall find she has an equal title” ~ John Locke

June 1989—Tiananmen Square Photographer Unknown

“Whensoever..the [government] shall…put into the hands of any other an absolute power over the lives, liberty, and estates of the people, by this breach of trust they forfeit the power [of] the people…who have a right to resume their original liberty, and by the establishment of the new [government] provide for their own safety and security.” ~John Locke

Thomas Paine: Common Sense

• Short pamphlet written in 1775• Challenged the rule of the American colonies by the King of

England• Listed grieves the colonies had against the King “For all men being originally equals, no one by birth could have the right to set

up his own family in perpetual preference to all others forever, and tho'

himself might deserve some decent degree of honours of his cotemporaries,

yet his descendants might be far too unworthy to inherit them.”

“In the early ages of the world, according to the scripture chronology, there were no kings; the consequence of which was there were no wars; it is

the pride of kings which throws mankind into confusion.”

Thomas Jefferson: Declaration of Independence (1776)

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with

certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness; that to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, that

whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish

it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and

Happiness.

Study Guide QuestionsWhich ones can you answer?

• What is a social contract

•How did enlightenment thinking effect people’s perceptions of government?•How did the ideas of John Locke and Thomas Paine influence Jefferson’s writings in the Declaration of Independence?

Exit Slip

• The idea that you would get a government that protects you and your rights in exchange for you following the laws the government creates is called...?

• Thomas Jefferson borrowed ideas from these two people when writing the DOI. What ideas did he borrow?

• What is the Enlightenment? • What are natural laws? Examples?