Locke's social contract

A classical liberalist who believed that the state of nature was

an improvement and that people naturally understood that
rights were reciprocal. Man naturally pursues self interest
and under his theory, man had the unalienable rights to life
liberty and property. For Locke, property is created when a
person mixes his labor with the raw materials of nature. So
property became an extension of oneself. The natural
condition of mankind, is a state of perfect and complete
liberty to conduct ones life as one best sees fit, free from the
interference of others. Thus under Lockes social contract
theory government would be limited and power would be in
the hands of the people (society is going to continue being
competitive) in order to have a free competitive market.
Competition is essential to a free society.. Government is not
there to create new laws, but to better protect them
(intervene when needed). Locke was writing during the late
1600s and his writing reflects the intellectual and political
movement around him where Parliament came in control
(Glorious Revolution) and a new government was established
with the English Bill of Rights (limits of the gov., limits on
monarch in name of a representative body). John Lockes
theory is significant because his theories were influential on
the democratic revolutions that followed in America,
especially on Thomas Jefferson, and the founders of the
United States. The Declaration of Independence is based on
Lockes beliefs (limited government, rights of man,) and his
beliefs are essentially what helped shape America today.
Rousseau's social contract
Rousseau was a French Philosopher who wrote about the lack
of virtue and morality in Paris during the Enlightenment and

rise of the bourgeoise. He is the founder of Romanticism who

based his social contract on reason and focused on the
natural.
Life in the state of nature was happy and there was equality,
but as time passed it became amour proper where people
became envious of one another, division of labor,
manipulation of tools as well as the idea of property. For
Rousseau, the idea of property constitutes humanitys fall
from paradise in the state of nature. To return to paradise
Rousseau believed that people should surrender their rights
and exercise sovereignty rather than bend to the whims of an
absolute monarch. By banding together, the people create a
general will called the sovereign which aims for the
common good. Every person is both a member and a subject
of the general will. In Rousseaus theory advocated direct
democracy where people rule themselves. Raising public
concerns over private concerns. If government did not
conform to the general will then the laws would be discarded.
While the individual parts with his natural rights, in return, he
gets civil liberties such as freedom of speech, equality, etc.
His famous idea, 'man is born free, but he is everywhere in
chains' challenged the traditional order of society. Rousseau
spoke for the common person and his theory inspired the
French as well as the American Revolution and gave a drive
for nationalism.
English Common Law
English Common Law is the British Constitution and known as
an unwritten constitution because it is written in many
different places. It consists of documents from court cases,
acts of parliament, and monarchical edicts. Common Law is
referenced when there were no specific laws on a subject. It
represents a long history of English tradition and it is
important because the 13 colonies derived their legal system
from the Common Law even after they declared

independence. It was later rejected in favor of the

Constitution.
Benign Neglect
Britains absence in colonial America due to pressing issues in England
left the colonies alone during the 17th-18th century to govern
themselves. During this time the colonists were relatively autonomous
and were allowed to govern themselves with minimal royal and
parliamentary interference. The colonies, in turn, fulfilled their role in
the mercantilist system as the suppliers of raw materials for
manufacture in England and as markets for those finished goods.They
flourished and developed a British origin, yet with a distinctly American
flavor. It was because of this absence that the colonies became more
self sufficient and eventually it led them to a feeling of individuality
and self control that they feared losing. The colonists had developed a
tradition of self-government and the attempt by England to tighten the
reigns of political control with the imposition of tax and trade
regulations added to the tensions spawned by the French and Indian
War spawned a series of events that led to the American Revolution
bringing forth the Declaration of Independence.

Stamp Act (1765)

The Stamp Act of 1765 imposed a tax on all paper documents
in the colonies, came at a time when the British Empire was
deep in debt from the Seven Years War (1756-63) and looking
to its North American colonies as a revenue source. Arguing
that only their own representative assemblies could tax them,
the colonists insisted that the act was unconstitutional, and
they resorted to mob violence to intimidate stamp collectors
into resigning. No taxation without representation. The most
significant outcome of the resistance to the Stamp Act was
that it allowed the colonist to get organized in opposition
groups. Stamp Act Congress was created and met in NY in
1765. Basic sense of Americanism started to form. They
issued a petition known as the Petition of Rights and
Grievances (based on Magna Carta) and sent to England.

Parliament repealed the Stamp Act in 1766, but issued a

Declaratory Act at the same time to reaffirm its authority to
pass any colonial legislation it saw fit. The issues of taxation
and representation raised by the Stamp Act strained relations
with the colonies to the point that, 10 years later, the
colonists rose in armed rebellion against the British in the
American Revolution.
The Coercive Acts
The Coercive Acts of 1774 were known as the Intolerable Acts
in America and were passed by England after the Boston Tea
Party. The Coercive Acts were a series of four acts established
by the British government. The aim of the legislation was to
restore order in Massachusetts and punish Bostonians for
their Tea Party, in which members of the revolutionaryminded Sons of Liberty dumped 337 crates of tea in the
harbor.The acts included the Boston Port Act (Closed the
port), Quarting Act, Administration of Justice Act, and the
Massachusetts Government Act.
-The Massachusetts Government Act, which restricted
Massachusetts; democratic town meetings and turned the
governor's council into an appointed body.
-The Administration of Justice Act, which made British officials
immune to criminal prosecution in Massachusetts.
-The Quartering Act, which required colonists to house and
quarter British troops on demand, including in their private
homes as a last resort.
Because of these acts Massachusetts began to receive
sympathy and respect from the other colonies. The most
important significance result is that these acts would lead to
the summoning of the First Continental Congress in
Philadelphia in September of 1774 where the colonists began
orchestrating a united resistance to British rule in America.

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 inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty,
and the pursuit of happiness.
By issuing the Declaration of Independence, adopted by the
Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, the 13 American
colonies severed their political connections to Great Britain.
The Declaration summarized the colonists motivations for
seeking their independence. By declaring themselves an
independent nation, the American colonists were able to
conclude an official alliance with the government of France
and obtain French assistance in the war against Great Britain.
Necessary and Proper Clause
The Necessary and Proper Clause known as the Elastic
Clause, answered the question of how powerful should the
government be?. It allows the Government of the United
States to "make all laws which shall be necessary and proper
for carrying into execution the foregoing powers, and all other
powers vested by this constitution. It is important because it
allows Congress to create new laws about subjects that were
not explicitly handled in the Constitution itself. It allows for
more flexibility in the legislative branch which is why it is
known as the elastic clause because the constitution is open
to interpretation.
Bill of Rights
Those who supported the Constitution became known as
FEDERALISTS and those who opposed its ratification were called
ANTIFEDERALISTS. The federalists supported a strong national
government to preserve order. The antifederalists favored
strong state governments and believed that the national
government created by the Constitution was too strong. The

Bill of Rights were added to the Constitution to address fears

raised by the Anti-Federalists during the ratification of the
Constitution that the Constitution did not provide sufficient
protection against abuses of power by the federal
government. These ten amendments list our basic rights and
place limits on the federal government. They include the
freedoms of speech and religion, the right to bear arms, the
right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures, and
an assurance that the powers not delegated to the federal
government in the Constitution are reserved to the states and
the people. The Bill of Rights illustrates that our Founders
understood that for personal freedoms to be broad, the power
of the federal government must be limited in order to
preserve our liberties.
Hobbes's Leviathan
Hobbes is a classical liberalist who was writing during the
English Civil War.
In Leviathan, Thomas Hobbes argues that the state of nature is the worst
possible way in which people could live. Because there is no higher
authority to protect and enforce rights, and no guarantee that anything we
own will be permanently ours, people are constantly under threat from
other people. Man lived in a chaotic condition and constantly lived in fear.
Individuals see other individuals as a means to their ends so life in the state
of nature was poor, brutish, and short. Hobbes solution was for people to
come together in a social contract. Man has a natural desire for protection
and order. In order to achieve this, man had to consent and surrender all
their rights and freedom to the government in order to protect and preserve
their lives and property. Government had absolute power but is alienated
from the people. Government was there to enforce cooperation between
people. Leviathan is important because it sets a model for the
understanding of the nature, purpose and justification of government,
according to principles which could for the first time be characterised as
'scientific'. At the heart of his account is the idea of a social contract: a
cement which binds together the atoms of society - individual persons - in a
mutually advantageous agreement to accept a central authority, the
function of which is to provide the conditions under which individuals may

flourish. Without that central authority things fall apart into anarchy or
war, which destroys all possible civic life and prosperity.

2. Politics vs. Philosophy: How is the constitution a political

document? How is it a philosophical document? Describe the
difference between the 2 ideas, then give evidence from both
the constitutional convention and the Federalist Papers to
make your argument.
Constitution is a living document because of the different
interpretations, elastic language. Changes with times.
Constitution as a political document is pragmatic (not a lot of
thought, philosophy in getting things done) and a
compromise between clashing of interests.
In the beginning:
Articles of Confederation
Tied in with the ideas of the revolution (natural rights,
limited government)
Weak legislature, weak central government
No revenue coming in
No executive branch
Lack of foreign policy.
Annapolis Convention
1st attempt to fix some of the issues of the Articles of
Confederation. No participation 5 of 13 states
attended.
Shays Rebellion
Results for a call for Constitutional Convention.
Ratifying conventions

Great Compromise (Connecticut Compromise): Compromise

between big and small states. Virginia Plan (House), New
Jersey Plan (Senate). Outcome: bicameral legislature.
House of Representatives: proportional representation
based on population.
Senate: equal representation
Status of new states (vague).
Suffrage: based on individual states. Voting for House based
on the people Senate was legislature (until changed many
years later).
President: Electoral Collage -Majority Rule
Slavery: Based on Compromises
3/5th compromise where slaves were counted as
3/5th of a person in order to boost representation in
the House for souther population.
Outlaw importation of slaves in 1808
Fugitive Slave Clause-runaway slaves must be
returned
Necessary and Proper Clause: Elastic clause. Constitution
was open to interpretation. More flexibility in the Legislative
branch.
Bill of Rights: Compromise between Federalists (strong
national gov.) and Anti Federalists (strong state rights).
Provides protection against abuses of power by the federal
government. These ten amendments list our basic rights
and place limits on the federal government.

Constitution as a Philosophical document focuses on

individual rights and protection of the rights of the individual.
Federalist Papers #9-Self governing societies tend to turn
into tyranny. A strong union is how to avoid tyranny.
Federalist Papers #1-American exceptionalism. We can
create a new government from reflection & choice, not
accident and force.

Federalist #9-Science of politics. We have the luxury of

having pure science of politics, we can avoid chaos.( checks
and balances, regulation of power, voting representation)
leads to stability.
Federalist Papers #10- Madison defines factions as groups
of people who gather together to protect and promote their
special economic interests and political opinions. Although
these factions are at odds with each other, they frequently
work against the public interest, and infringe upon the
rights of others. Given the nature of man, factions are
inevitable. As long as men hold different opinions, have
different amounts of wealth, and own different amount of
property, they will continue to fraternize with people who
are most similar to them. Both serious and trivial reasons
account for the formation of factions but the most important
source of faction is the unequal distribution of property. To
Madison, there is only one way to control a faction: to
control its effects. This is done by having a representation
(takes public opinions and filters them, slows down process)
as well as by enlarging the space. In large republics,
factions will be numerous, but they will be weaker than in
small, direct democracies where it is easier for factions to
consolidate their strength.
Federalist #47-Separation of powers. Take government
power and spread it to as many hands as possible. Overlap
in power. Checks and balances. Too much power is the
definition of tyranny.
Federalist #51-Ambition must counteract ambition. Madison
concludes that self-government flourishes in a large country
containing many different groups. The best security against
a gradual concentration of power in any one branch is to
provide constitutional safeguards that would make such
concentration difficult. The constitutional rights of all must
check one man's personal interests and ambitions. House
and Senate

3. Causes of the Revolutionary War: What events led to the

American Revolution? How did the relationship between
Great Britain and the United States deteriorate between 1754
and 1776? And how did the colonists' conception of
legitimate government change throughout this period?

7 Years War
Benign Neglect
Quatering Act/Sugar Act 1765
Stamp Act-taxes on paper 1765
Stamp Act Congress-basic sense of americanism. Petition of
Rights & Grievances.
Townsend Act-imposed taxes on glass, paint, paper & tea
1770
Boston Massacre 1770
Boston Tea Party 1773
Coercive Acts-1774
First Continental Congress-1774
Battle of Lexington and Concord-shots heard around the
world.
Olive Branch Petition-Last petition sent to parliament last
try at reconciling/negotiating.