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U2 Notes #1 Political Philosophers/Independence
SSCG1 The student will demonstrate knowledge of the political philosophies that
shaped the development of United States constitutional government.
a. Analyze key ideas of limited government and the rule of law as seen in the
Magna Carta, the Petition of Rights, and the English Bill of Rights.
b. Analyze the writings of Hobbes (Leviathan), Locke (Second Treatise on
Government), and Montesquieu (The Spirit of Laws) as they affect our concept of
government.
SSCG2 The student will analyze the natural rights philosophy and the nature of
government expressed in the Declaration of Independence.
a. Compare and contrast the Declaration of Independence and the Social Contract
Theory.
b. Evaluate the Declaration of Independence as a persuasive argument
U2 Introduction Constitutional Convention
Political Philosophers and Independence √
Constitution, Conventions, Structure, and
Ratification
The Constitution; Powers and Amendments
The English Experience
•We adopted the
English Model and
Ideas of
Government
•Limited
Government
•Representative
Government
•Social Contract
Limited Government
• Magna Carta
• King John’s excessive
taxes
• Forced to sign
document that listed
what King could not do.
• “No Tax without
Consent”
Other Limitations By British
•Petition of Rights; More
things King can not do
“imprison without reason”
•English Bill of Rights;
King not divine, Rules
with the consent of the
People.
•More government is
limited more rights
people can enjoy
Representative Government
•King had to get
Nobles consent to
tax
•Becomes the
Parliament
•Overtime People
play a role in who
gets into
Parliament
Social Contract Theory
•Belief that government a creation of the people
•People agree to give the government power to
make rules they must obey.
Thomas Hobbes
•Wrote the “Leviathan”
•In State of Nature Life was
“Nasty, Brutish, and Short”
•People gave up all their
rights and created an
absolute government to rule
over them.
•Once created could not get
rid of this government.
John Locke
•Wrote 2nd Treatise on
Government
•Said people created
governments to protect
their rights
•Rights were life, liberty,
and property
•If government failed to
protect these rights,
people had a right to get
rid of the government.
Montesquieu
•Said that best form of
government to protect
the people’s rights was
through separation of
power.
•If power separated, no
one part could become
tyrannical.
Thomas Jefferson
•Put these ideas together in
Declaration of
Independence.
•Said unalienable Rights
of Life, Liberty, and
Pursuit of happiness.
•Said King was denying us
these rights.
•Said we had a right to
replace their government.
Declaration of Independence
•We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are
created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with
certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life,
Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.
•That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted
among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of
the governed
•That whenever any Form of Government becomes
destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to
alter or to abolish it,
•and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on
such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as
to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and
Happiness
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