JOHN LOCKE

MEET JOHN LOCKE

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BACKGROUND

Born in England in 1632

Studied at Oxford. Considered being a minister,

eventually became a doctor, and ended up as a

philosopher and political scientist

TABULA RASA

Believed that we were born as a blank slate

Our experiences shape who we are and who we

become.

GOVERNMENTS

Unlike Thomas Hobbes, who believed that kings

should have absolute power, Locke believed in a

constitutional monarchy.

Constitutional Monarchy: a form of government

in which the monarch’s power is limited by a basic

set of laws.

In other words, someone needs to keep a leaders

power in check. For England this was Parliament’s

job. For U.S. it’s Congress.

NEW DEVELOPMENTS

In the 1680s, James II was the new king and he

was Catholic. Protestants feared he would want to

put Catholics in control. This caused Parliament to

give the crown to James’ protestant daughter and

her husband (William and Mary.)

They also wrote a bill of rights. In addition to

ensuring certain individual rights, it also forbade the

monarch to do anything without Parliament’s

consent.

SOCIAL CONTRACT

An agreement in which people give power to a

government in exchange for its protections.

TWO TREATISES ON GOVERNMENT

Locke was pleased with the political changes in

government .

He wrote a book outlining his philosophy on

government called “Two Treatises on Government.”

The people are the sole source of power.

His ideas are apparent in the Declaration of

Independence.

VIDEO

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