Three Fundamental Principles Of The American Constitution

The American Constitution is the document that the American government is modelled after. Any decision made in the government, in any branch and at any level, must be in compliance with the Constitution. Consequently, the Constitution is one of the most important documents in American politics. Being that the Constitution is so very central in all aspects of important decision making, it would behoove the American people to know what the central messages and the main conceptual precepts of this document are. This paper will consider three foundational principles of natural rights, classical republicanism, and popular sovereignty, explaining what each of them mean, and how they continue to shape what America is as a country to this day.

In his work, Two Treatises on Government he said that the basic rights of Life, Health, Liberty, and Possessions should not be taken away from anyone (Locke, 1821). Though the Constitution does not include expressions such as inalienable or natural rights, it is believed that when writing the Bill of Rights, the authors of the Constitution were influenced by Locke’s ideas. The Bill of Rights details the basic rights of Americans, and the majority of those listed can be traced back in some way to John Locke’s philosophy (Costly, n.d.). For example, in the Bill of Rights, it states that American citizens’ life, liberty, and property cannot be taken away from them without due process of law (U.S. Const. amend. V). Although the terminology is not exact, the Framers of the Constitution were clearly influenced by Locke’s ideas, as the basic idea of which rights need to be protected is maintained. In both, the purpose is to guarantee the essential rights that all people have to general well being (whether it be life, liberty, health, possessions, e.t.c.). These were put in place to protect the general public from a leader’s abuse. Because of this amendment in the Constitution, the American people have less of a reason to fear someone killing them for no good reason, or taking the things that they work hard

Popular sovereignty is the first of seven principles in the Constitution, suggesting that this was prioritized, at least to some degree, in eyes of the Framers. Having just escaped from the rule of Great Britain, the American people were wary of slipping right back under the thumb of another leader that just wanted power and authority. They didn’t want someone in charge that didn’t have their best interest at heart. Consequently, they included the idea of popular sovereignty in the Constitution. The idea of popular sovereignty is reflected in the process required to amend the Constitution. Congress must have a 2/3 agreement and the states must be 3/4 in agreement (U.S. Const. art. V.). In this instance, it is plain to see that changing the government is dependent largely on the people therein. If the majority of the people are not in agreement, the government can’t change, reinforcing the idea that the power of the government is in the hands of the