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
http://app.discoveryeducation.com/player/view/
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