The Need for Freedom: Locke and Others Contribute to Declaration of Independence - Essay Sample

Introduction

The need for the protection of human rights was the foundation for the declaration of independence. The declaration of independence could not be successful without the contribution of great philosophers. The works of Locke, Montesquieu, Voltaire, and Rousseau contributed greatly to the declaration of independence. Each individual had a different part to give. However, all of them had one commonality, the need for freedom and protection of human rights.

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Locke is extensively recognized for his ideas of two treatises of government. Locke joined the England protestant parliament against the Roman Catholic King James II (Saastamoinen et al. 128). The king had power on a great decision like the right to live, among others. As a result, the power of decision making was given to parliament. According to Locke, natural rights like the right to life, to own property, and freedom of liberty cannot be taken away from individuals, neither can one voluntarily give them up.

According to Locke, the king had no absolute power, and his work was to protect natural rights (Saastamoinen et al. 128). The natural rights as he named them limited the ability of the king. People had the right to protest against the violation of natural rights by the king. According to Saastamoinen et al. (130), citizens have the right to dissolve the government and establish another one if they are dissatisfied with its work. Thomas Jefferson quoted this theory in his declaration of independence.

The idea of the House of Representatives was taken from Locke's theory. He proposed a representative form of government that is composed of males who own properties. The legislature had the power to make laws. Locke believed that voting should be limited to males who own property. According to him, people who did not own property could not contribute to the good of the country, and they were unfit to be in any government office (Saastamoinen et al. 133). The perspective was included in the declaration of independence. The election in the government office was determined by ownership of property.

Montesquieu contributed to the formation of the government to maintain law and order. Montesquieu was born in a royal family in France during the reign of King Louis XIV. According to Wright (68), Montesquieu was dissatisfied with the absolute power given to the king and the teachings Roman Catholic Church. Unlike other philosophers, Montesquieu believed that the state of nature made people fearful of avoiding wars and violence. He argues that society is constructed due to the human need for food and association (Wright, 88). As people interact in the community, they lose their sense of equality and become violent. The war created by society makes it necessary to have laws and order.

Montesquieu proposed the need for separation of powers between the arms of government. He was opposing the absolute power exercised by France's king. Montesquieu argued that in a good government, there is an equal distribution of power in the four arms of government. In his book called The Spirit of the Laws, he argues that the separation of power between the House of Commons and the House of Lords was necessary to maintain a balance (Wright, 88). The American people incorporated these ideas on the formation of the constitution.

Today, the American government is made in a way that there is a separation of powers between the legislature, executive, and judiciary. The separation of powers enables the government to ensure that no branch is more powerful than the other. It also helps in preventing the manipulation of decision making.

Voltaire is known for his advocacy for the separation of church and state. Voltaire advocated for the right of religious liberty and trade. Being born in England, he saw how the Roman Catholic used the government to torture and kill people who went against her teachings. He advocated for social reforms where he argued have people have the right to worship. "All sects are different because they come from men; morality is everywhere the same because it comes from God" (Gossman, 2019).

After independence, the state was quick to enact Voltaire's ideas. People formed America from diverse places, which were mostly running away from religious persecutions in their countries (Gossman, 2019). Even before the declaration of independence, people respected the freedom of worship. The American constitution declares that there is a separation of church and state. No religious institution will be given more rights by the government.

Rousseau contributed to the formation of a democratic government. He is probably considered as the founding father of the term democracy as defined today (Masciulli, 2019). He argued that there exists freedom, peace, and equality in the state of nature. He saw the claim to own property as the beginning of wars. According to him, the social contract was a fraud committed against the poor by the rich.

Rousseau argues that people need to form a social contract to protect their properties. He argued that it was impossible for people to save their properties and remain free. According to Masciulli (2019), people have to give their rights to the whole community (sovereign) to form laws for the good of everyone. To him, this general will could only be achieved when everyone had voted for it. He was against the idea of representatives voting for the good of people.

American used Rousseau's theory of democracy to involve the people in decision making. American came to define democracy as the rule of the people, for the people and by the people. According to the constitution, everyone has the right to vote for leaders who will air their voices in the two houses. Therefore, decisions made by these leaders are voices of the people who elected them.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the great philosophers were mostly concerned with the rights of people. The rights to life, to own property, and religious liberty are some of the contributions of philosophers. Philosophers proposed the separation of powers and the exercise of democracy. The ideas have helped in the maintenance of equality in the country.

Work Cited

Gossman, Lionel. Medievalism and the ideologies of the Enlightenment: the world and work of La Carne de Sainte-Palaye. JHU Press, 2019.

Mascioli, Joseph. "Rousseau Versus Instant Government: Democratic Participation in the age of Telepolitics." Democratic Theory and Technological Society. Routledge, 2017 150-164

Saastamoinen, Kari Pekka, Richard Whatmore, and Ian Hunter. "Natural Equality and Natural Law in Locke's Two Treatises." Philosophy, Rights, and Natural Law: Essays in Honour of Knud Haakonssen. Edinburgh University Press, 2019. 127-146.

Wright, J. Kent. "Rousseau and Montesquieu." Thinking with Rousseau: From Machiavelli to Schmitt (2017): 63-91.