John Locke, Essay Example

John Locke is known as one of the most influential scholars and philosophical leaders in history. He was Oxford scholar, medical researcher and physician, political operative, economist and ideologue for a revolutionary movement.  In his two major works, “A Letter Concerning Toleration” (1689) and “The Second Treatise On Civil Government” (1690), he built the framework for what would become the philosophical source for many of the founding principles of the United States.

In “A Letter Concerning Toleration”, Locke’s specific focus is the separation of church vs. state. It also deals with the broader issue of the inability of a state to control or compel moral behavior in it’s citizens. Therefore, in this one work, Locke sets the framework for the founding father’s positions on separation of church and state, freedom of speech and freedom of action and thought.

Locke saw the State as being mainly concerned with the external needs of man, the “present kingdom” (Locke).  The Church is concerned with the spiritual aspect of man or the future “kingdom to come” (Locke). Therefore, Locke maintains that there must be an absolute separation between the church and the state. Locke further supports this stance, with his believe that the state’s role is not to enforce public morality, but to protect man’s rights from being violated by other men.

Locke argues for a clear distinction to be drawn between religion and civil society, in order to put to rest any controversies that may arise from any unclear boundaries. He says: “a word, that none may impose either upon himself or others, by the pretenses of loyalty and obedience to the prince, or of tenderness and sincerity in the worship of God; I esteem it above all things necessary to distinguish exactly the business of civil government from that of religion, and to settle the just bounds that lie between the one and the other.” (Locke)

Therefore, Locke suggests that the commonwealth, or civil society, should be thought of as a society of men constituted only for maintaining and advancing their civil interests. The duty of government leaders is to impartially carry out equal laws which ensure the civil interests of the people.

A year after publishing “A Letter Concerning Toleration,” Locke published “The Second Treatise On Civil Government.” In this work, Locke covers many topics, Locke’s primary argument is that people are equal and invested with natural rights in a state of nature. In this state of nature, they live free from outside rule because natural law governs behavior, and each person has the ability to execute that law against someone who wrongs them by infringing on their rights. Locke explains the state of nature as, “Men living according to reason, without a common superior on earth, to judge between them, is properly the state of nature.” (Locke, 2.19)

For example, if one would apply this philosophy to property rights, Locke  would say that the right to private property originated when God gave the world to men. He believed that God gave man the ability to reason in order to make use of the world. Locke explains that every man has property in his own person, and that nobody, other than that person has any right to that property.  The author states that “whatsoever then he removes out of the state of nature hath provided, and left it in, he hath mixed his labour with, and joined to it something that is his own, and thereby makes it his property (Locke, 2.19)”. Therefore, once a man removes something out of its original state of nature, and applies his own labor to it, that something becomes his own property.

Once government was established, the basis of individual property rights was required to changed. According to Locke, in governments, the laws regulate the right of property, and the possession of land is determined by constitutions. In looking at the forming of America as a nation, we see that before the establishment of government Americans had God given rights to property, after a governing system was established, laws and restrictions pertaining to property were also put into place. These laws and restrictions were established to secure protection of those who had property.

In this way, Locke shows that people are forced to exchange some of their natural rights when they enter into society with other people. They do this in order to be protected by common laws and a common executive power that enforces that laws. People need executive power to protect their property and defend their liberty when they live in a society with other citizens.

In Treastie, Locke also describes a state with a separate judicial, legislative, and executive branch, exactly like how our forefathers set up the American government system. Locke believed that the legislative branch was the most important of the three, since it determines the laws that govern civil society.

Locke’s political philosophies seemed to influence most, if not all of our founding fathers. The works of Locke were very familiar to many American’s already and thus it was understandable that his writings were the first thing the founding fathers pulled from to use as the foundation of the American governing system. Historian Carl L. Becker wrote in 1922, “Most Americans had absorbed Locke’s works as a kind of political gospel.” (Becker, 27)

The use of Locke’s ideas in the formation of our American government, began as early as when the delegates attending the Continental Congress based their defense Locke’s stance that the people have the right to alter or abolish a government that abuses it’s rights (since they felt that King George had acted tyrannically and thus abused his right). They also referred Locke’s idea of liberty as a natural right granted to all men.

Thomas Jefferson, specifically, as the writer of the Declaration of Independence, brought alot of Locke’s theories into the creation of the United States we know today. Jefferson considered Locke to be one of “the three greatest men that have ever lived, without any exception, and as having laid the foundation of those superstructures which have been raised in the Physical and Moral sciences.” (Jefferson) Jefferson also thought that The Second Treatise provided the “general principles of liberty and the rights of man, in nature and in society” (Jefferson) . His strong admiration for Locke’s works can be seen by the fact that several passages from the Second Treatise are reproduced, word for word, in the Declaration of Independence.

After the Declaration of Independence, America’s most important founding document is the Constitution.  Locke’s philosophies can also be clearly seen in this document.  Many of Locke’s general arguments were developed in the Constitution, specifically about private property, separation of powers and separation of church and state.

The Constitution set the shape of government, divided into three branches, which are given powers to keep the others in check to balance government. The amendments grant certain civil liberties set specific rules and restrictions on those who are not granted civil rights. Locke’s emphasis on a man’s natural rights to life, liberty, and property are expanded into the Constitution, specifically the Bill of Rights.

The Bill of Rights was added to the Constitution because of the Anti-Federalist views that the Constitution should guarantee a set of civil rights to the people, like the previous English Bill of Rights. Since the American people were oppressed under the English monarchy, the Anti-Federalists wanted to make sure that the people were did not chance this happening again once the new state was established.  Not surprisingly, the system of checks and balances and the separation of powers written into the constitution were ultimately designed to once again protect the people from tyrannical rule.

The Fifth Amendment protects against abuse of government authority in a legal procedure. This directly address the natural rights theorized by Locke and Locke’s idea of a social contract which is abided by in a civilized state. In this mutual agreement, the people establish the government and in return, the government protects the people and their natural rights.

Locke strongly believed that the purpose of government was only to protect the people’s life, liberty and property and that if the government does not fulfill their obligations, becomes too powerful and corrupt, the people have the right to destroy that government and create a new institution that will fulfill their obligations.  Again and again this belief is emphasized through out all of America’s founding documents.

As all of the above should make abundantly clear, John Locke was the intellectual father of creation of the United States of America, without whose ideas the country we live in today would be extremely different. Locke’s philosophies sparked the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the American Revolution and the creation of the U.S. Constitution.

Bibliography

Locke, John.  “A Letter Concerning Toleration”. 2002. 26 Nov. 2009. http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/etcbin/toccer-new2?id=LocTole.xml&images=images/modeng&data=/texts/english/modeng/parsed&tag=public&part=all

Locke, John. “The Second Treatise on Civil Government”. Buffalo: Prometheus, 1986.

Jefferson, Thomas, “The Letters of Thomas Jefferson: 1743-1826”, 11 July 2005. 26 Nov. 2009 http://www.let.rug.nl/usa/P/tj3/writings/brf/jefl74.htm

Becker, Carl. The Declaration of Independence: A Study on the History of Political Ideas. New York: Harcourt, Brace and Co., 1922