John Locke's Influence On The Founders

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From there, John Locke took over the influences. For Locke, the State of Nature was also a “State of perfect Freedom… and of Equality” (Locke, pg. 269, para. 4). The land was held in common, and every man had the universal right to use whatever he needed as long as he was not wasteful with the resources. However, Locke asserted that this liberty was not license as there was a natural law, one superior to any form of human legislation, which reigned in the freedom of man (Locke, pg. 270, para. 6). Nature demanded that one preserve themselves above all else and preserve the lives of others. One could not “harm another in his Life, Health, Liberty, or Possessions” (Locke, pg. 271, line. 9). From there, property entered society. Once man put his labor into the land and gave it value, it became his and his alone (Locke, pg. 291, para. 33). The acquisition of this land prevented wastefulness and instead fostered the creation of …show more content…
It can be argued that none were as great as John Locke. Through his Second Treatise of Government, the Framers of the United States were able to construct a Union that would prosper for years after their deaths. They managed to compose a document that withheld the test of time through unforeseen circumstances. However this was also thanks in part to the influence of Thomas Hobbes. Without Leviathan paving the way first, many ideas drawn on by the Founders and Locke, things like the Social Contract, the equality of man, and the consent of the people would not have been as fully developed. The hints of his national sovereign could be seen in the executive branch and helped to ensure that the President would remain energetic and independent. By combining the instructions of the two philosophers, America found itself in the sweet spot between universal licentiousness and absolute
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