PRESENTATION OUTLINE
John Locke:
"To understand political power right, and derive it from its original, we must consider, what state all men are naturally in...A state also of equality..."
Constitution:
"We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal..."
Here we see that John Locke and Thomas Jefferson shared the opinion that all men are created equal.
John Locke:
"...all men are naturally in...a state of perfect freedom to order their actions, and dispose of their possessions and persons, as they think fit,..."
Constitution:
that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
These two quotes show that both Locke and Jefferson believed that all men had certain rights that could not be taken from them--Jefferson calls these "unalienable rights."
Locke:
"There is one way more whereby such a government may be dissolved..."
Constitution:
"When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another..."
Both Locke and Jefferson justify the dissolving of a corrupt government.
Locke:
" When any one, or more, shall take upon them to make laws, whom the people have not appointed so to do, they make laws without authority..."
Constitution:
"He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature..."
Both Locke and Jefferson condemn governments who create laws in a non-democratic way. In Jeffersons case, it was laws being made without representation.
Locke: "....if a long train of abuses...all tending the same...make the design visible to the people...it is not to be wondered, that they should...endeavour to put the rule into such hands which may secure to them the ends for which government was at first erected..."
Constitution: "When...it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands...a decent respect...requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation."
Locke and Jefferson agree that a government has a
specific role in society and when it does not fulfill that role, the people of the nation have the right to change governments to one who fits their needs.
Summary
Both Locke and Jefferson believed in limiting the power of government. They both agreed that government has a specific role in society and must fulfill their role in favor of the population in a democratic process. Both believed that when a government over reaches their power the people have the right to dissolve it.
