Thinking for the Future

1. Thinking for the Future Chapter 11 Sections 2, 4, and 5 Notes

2. A Note About the Notes • There are several slides in today’s notes that are divided into two sections. • On those slides, the notes on the left half are major points necessary for understanding; the right half includes further explanation of the notes on the left. • The left side is the “what” • The right side includes some “what” and some “why”

3. The Social Contract Definition: The idea of the social contract is one of the foundations of the American political system. This is the belief that the state (government) only exists to serve the will of the people, and they are the source of all political power enjoyed by the state. They can choose to give or withhold this power.

4. Thomas Hobbes Each society needs a leader to emerge Without a leader there will be chaos Believes man is flawed and inherently evil The origin of the term social contract can be found in the writings of Plato. However, English philosopher Thomas Hobbes expanded on the idea when he wrote Leviathan in response to the English Civil War. In this book he wrote that in the earliest days there was no government. Instead, those who were the strongest could take control and use their power at any time over others. Hobbes' theory was that the people mutually agreed to create a state (government), only giving it enough power to provide protection of their well-being. However, in Hobbes' theory, once the power was given to the state, the people then surrendered any right to that power. In effect, that would be the price of the protection they sought. Hobbes’s View on the Social Contract

5. John Locke Man has individual, natural rights that must be protected and are superior to laws and governments Governments exist only to protect those rights Those rights are life, liberty, and the ability to own property Believes man is inherently good Ruler who denies individuals’ natural rights could be overthrown Jean-Jacques Rousseau People are naturally good Government should be based on popular sovereignty—this is the idea that power lies with the people and a country’s government should be created and controlled by the people Jean Jacques Rousseau and John Locke each took the social contract theory one step further. Rousseau wrote The Social Contract, or Principles of Political Right in which he explained that the government is based on the idea of popular sovereignty. Thus the will of the people as a whole gives power and direction to the state. John Locke also based his political writings on the idea of the social contract. He stressed the role of the individual. He also believed that revolution was not just a right but an obligation if the state abused their given power. Obviously these ideas had a huge impact on the Founding Fathers, especially Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. Locke and Rousseau’s Views on the Social Contract

6. Other Enlightenment Thinkers… • Baron de Montesquieu • Believes the best form of government has a separation of powers • Those separation of powers come in the form of 3 branches of gov’t: legislative, executive, and judicial • Voltaire • Wrote against French monarchy, nobility, and the religious controls of the Church • Should not hold back personal freedoms: “I [may] disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it” • Mary Wollstonecraft • Enlightenment ideals of equality should be extended to women

7. Why They’re Important: U.S. Connection • Which ideas within the Enlightenment show up in American Revolutionary Thought? • Montesquieu’s checks and balances and 3 branches of government • Locke’s ideas of natural rights (modified by Thomas Jefferson to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness) • Voltaire’s ideas of personal freedoms • Rousseau’s ideas that government should be created and controlled by the people • Much later, Wollstonecraft’s women’s rights appear, though not during the American Revolution • Some women’s rights begin to be fought for in the mid 1800s • In 1920, women in the U.S. earn the right to vote • The concept of a social contract, especially as stated by Locke

8. Why They’re Important:French Connection • The French people took many of the ideas from the Enlightenment and the American Revolution and used them in France • French society was paralyzed by high debt, noble privilege (think: rich celebrities), and religious power • Locke’s natural rights, Voltaire’s personal freedoms, and Rousseau’s gov’t for the people and by the people were adapted by the French residents as a rallying cry for freedom • So how’d we get to Revolution? That’s what we’ll focus on tomorrow…