The Enlightenment & Role of Government Central Historical Question: Should the role of government be to maintain law and

order under any means necessary or to protect each individuals liberty? ____________________________________________________________ Document #1 Thomas Hobbes Leviathan 1651 ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ Hobbes was an English political philosopher who supported Absolutism and ____________________________________________________________ wrote Leviathan during the English Civil War when there was no King. He ____________________________________________________________ later worked for King Charles II after the restoration. The King protected ____________________________________________________________ Hobbes when the English parliament (the representative government) tried to ban Leviathan as heresy. ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ When two men want the same thing, which they cannot both have, they ____________________________________________________________ become enemies. They will try to destroy each other. They will try to come and ____________________________________________________________ take from him not only what he has but also his life, or his liberty. ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ a When men live without a government to keep them in control they live in ____________________________________________________________ state of War; every man, against every other. There is no progress and the life of ____________________________________________________________ man becomes solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short. ____________________________________________________________
The only way to create peace is with a King who will defend the people and ____________________________________________________________ protect their rights. Every man should give up the right of governing themselves ____________________________________________________________ to a central authority. By this authority, the King may then use the strength of all ____________________________________________________________ of people, as he shall think necessary, for their peace and common Defense. ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ Consequently none of the Kings Subjects are allowed to be free from his rule. ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________

Document #2 John Locke: Second Treatises on Government 1689 Locke was a British Philosopher who wrote about politics and human nature, he believed men were born tabula rasa (meaning blank slate) and were therefore inherently good.
Political Power is that power every man has in their state of nature, but gives up to society, and therein to the governors, with the expectation that it shall be employed for their good, and the protection of their property. When they put the power into the hands of the magistrate, the magistrate cannot abuse them. They may only make laws to help the preservation of the whole. This power has its origin only from the agreement and mutual consent of those in the community and the government. Governments are to govern by publicly established laws, not to be varied in particular cases, but the same law for the rich and the poor, for the favorite at court, and the country man at the plough. These laws also ought to be designed for no other end ultimately, but for the good of the people. When the government acts against the trust given to them by the people they put themselves into a state of war with the people. The people are then absolved from any farther obedience to the legislators. The people then have a right to resume their original liberty and establish a new government as they see fit. The end goal of government is the good of mankind and which is best for mankind.

Document #3 Jean Jacques Rousseau: The Social Contract, 1763

Known for saying man was born free, but everywhere he is in chains, Rousseau was a philosopher who wrote on education, politics and natural liberty. Each man's power and freedom are his main means of self preservation. So how can men use their collective power to help protect all of the people and their property without taking away their own individual rights and freedoms? This is the fundamental problem; the social contract offers a solution to it. The social contract's terms are simple: each individual gives up his rights to the whole community. Conditions will then be the same for everyone. No one will disrupt this balance for fear it will ruin conditions for all. As a result, an offense against one member is an offense against all members. Each should then be motivated to combine all their skills and talents to help each other. The first and most important conclusion from this is that the general will alone may direct the forces of the State to achieve the goal it was founded for, the common good. There is also a difference between the natural rights of the people and the duties they have as subjects of a community. Nothing can take place without a cause according to the laws of reason, any more than according to the laws of nature. What then is government? It is a body established between the subjects and the sovereign to keep them in touch with each other. It is charged with executing the laws and maintaining both civil and political liberty. The only will dominating government should be the general will or the law. The government's power is only the public power vested in it. If the time should ever come when the government makes use of the public power to carry out its own particular will- the social union will disappear and the body politic will be dissolved.

Document #4 James Madison, The Federalist Papers 51, 1788 Madison was an American Founding Father, a politician, political philosopher and the fourth President of the United States. Due to his contributions to the writing of the Constitution and Bill of Rights he is often called the Father of the Constitution.
If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, no controls on government would be necessary. The great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself.