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 todays 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
Hobbess View on the Social Contract

• 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.

• Thomas Hobbes
• Each society needs a leader to emerge
• Without a leader there will be chaos
• Believes man is flawed and inherently evil

5
Locke and Rousseaus Views on the Social Contract

• 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.

• 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
  sovereigntythis is the idea that power lies with
  the people and a countrys government should be
  created and controlled by the people

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 govt 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 Theyre Important U.S. Connection

• Which ideas within the Enlightenment show up in
  American Revolutionary Thought?
• Montesquieus checks and balances and 3 branches
  of government
• Lockes ideas of natural rights (modified by
  Thomas Jefferson to life, liberty, and the
  pursuit of happiness)
• Voltaires ideas of personal freedoms
• Rousseaus ideas that government should be
  created and controlled by the people
• Much later, Wollstonecrafts womens rights
  appear, though not during the American Revolution
• Some womens 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 Theyre ImportantFrench 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
• Lockes natural rights, Voltaires personal
  freedoms, and Rousseaus govt for the people and
  by the people were adapted by the French
  residents as a rallying cry for freedom
• So howd we get to Revolution? Thats what well
  focus on tomorrow