The Social Contract Reflection In the Declaration of Independence it tell us that “all men are created equal” and that all men are free. Which is the same type of statement that the The Declaration of the Rights of Man says “men are born and remain free and equal in rights”. Then, when we look into the Social Contract, of course the first thing it addresses is the idea that “man was born free”. Knowing these facts, why would people not assume that each one of these historical documents were influenced by one another? While comparing and contrasting, it was interesting to see the differences and similarities in each of these written works. There are not the same by any means, but you can definitely pinpoint certain ideas that could have been pulled from the others. Let’s start off with my first example being in The Social Contract, it states: “Each individual may have one particular will as a man that is different from-or contrary to-the general will which he has as a citizen. His own particular interest may suggest other things to him than the common interest does”. Meaning that yes, …show more content…
everyone is one in the same, but we are not always going to do the same things as each other at all times. Everyone is free to think for themselves and make their own decisions. In the Declaration of Independence this is shown as well when talking about establishing a new government that everyone is entitled to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”. These are the same parameters as in The Social Contract, no one is being punished for not thinking like everyone else. Another similarity that I found in both documents was how each writer decided to end their work. They did not necessarily say the same thing, but they both used a similar basis to end it. In the Declaration of Independence it ends with “and that, free and independent states, they have full power to levy war, conclude peace...etc”. Just reassuring what was all really said throughout the whole entire declaration. A similar ending can be found in the Social Contract. Locke ends his writing with “These are the required dogmas: the existence of a powerful intelligent Divinity, who does good, has foreknowledge of all…etc.” Both documents list the rules to each agreement, even though one is the rights and law of the country and the other is a contract to sign your rights away. The French Declaration is a bit different compared to the Social Contact and the American Declaration, mainly due to the format structure and the articles it lists out.
Something that caught my eye was the striking similarities between these documents as they were talking about laws and what happens when a crime has been committed. In the Rights of Man, it explains that you can not be wrongfully convicted and that everyone gets a chance to declare themselves guilty or not guilty. The French Declaration goes deep into their laws by taking them very seriously the whole way through. The Social Contract has the same basis, if you break a law you could be let off and forgiven or “As for the person who conducts himself as if he does not believe them after having publicly stated his belief in these same dogmas, he deserves the death penalty. He has lied in the presence of the
laws”. After comparing the documents, I believe that the French Declaration may have used some points from the Declaration of Independence in their writing. Many articles in the French Declaration have some of the same meanings and words, as seen in the Declaration of Independence. For example, freedom of speech and to think freely in article 11 says that “The free communication of ideas and opinions is one of the most precious of the rights of man. Every citizen may, accordingly, speak, write, and print with freedom, but shall be responsible for such abuses of this freedom as shall be defined by law”. I explained this similarity earlier in this paper by showing how The Social Contract and the Declaration of Independence both had mentionings of freedom of thinking and free will. Also in article 1 the first thing said is “Men are born and remain free and equal in rights. Social distinctions may be founded only upon the general good”. Which I think is a pretty close translation to the beginning of The Declaration of Independence which states “That all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” So yes, I do think that when making the French Declaration they may have reached out for some help on certain things. Overall, each Declaration is one in their own, they will never truly be able to compare to each other in the sense that they all stood for something a bit different, yet the same all at one time. They were all just looking to free all men because, in a sense, freedom is all we have ever wanted.
The Declaration of Independence refers to “our constitution”, in this respect they were referring to the Ancient British Constitution. The United States was expressing the fundamental aspects of British politics; among these were Classic Republicanism, Enlightenment Liberalism, and Protestant Christianity. In the Declaration they balanced all of these English traditions; expressing what they believed to be the true spirit of the British Constitution. As Edmund Burke would say, “(the Revolution) was carried out not to create new liberties but to preserve old ones” (Wood, p. 58). The main issue that the colonies had with the British following 1763, was England’s belief in the doctrine of
The Declaration of Independence (1776) was written to proclaim the colonists’ independence from Great Britain and announce the rights of its citizens and the role of government, among other declarations. The most famous phrase “…all men are created equal”, authored by Thomas Jefferson, was a statement affirming that tyranny under the rule of King George III and the English Parliament would be met with opposition by the colonists who would protect their liberties in the new republic.
Specifically, the idea that man is endowed with certain liberties that were granted by God and/or nature was advocated by the Enlightenment thinkers. Many people took aim at arbitrary governments and the “divine right of kings.” John Locke in return offered principles of constructing a constitutional government, a contract between rulers and the ruled. In Document 7, John Locke in The Two Treatises of Government stated that men consent to enter society in order to preserve their natural rights such as life, liberty, and property. The government should protect people's natural rights and if not, then the people can remove their consent because the government derives its power from the consent of the people. John Locke wrote during the time period of the Enlightenment; therefore, his thoughts were based on the emerging idea of individualism furthermore man's inherent rights and powers. Thomas Jefferson wrote in The Declaration of Independence (Document 9) that are all men are created equal and that they are endowed with certain natural rights. The Declaration of Independence was written because of England's tyrannical rule over the American colonies thus, the citizens felt that their natural rights were being abused by the English government. Individualism was indeed formed in response to the skepticism of the Church as
Both went through a series of revisions before they became law. Both give instructions to the multitude of things slaves were stripped of and the heinous reasoning behind them. Slaves were nothing but tools for their owners. Slaves were dispensable and lacked the skin color to be treated fairly. Slave owners could do with their slaves as they pleased and had little to no regulation on what they allowed them to have. Both documents state on various occasions that the owners had the final say in what happened to their slave. And if a white man came across another mans Negro slave away from his plantation, the white man had the right to reprimand the slave however he saw
The English Bill of Rights (1689) and the French Declaration of the Rights of Man (1789) are roughly around the same period, in that it is possible to think the both documents share similar ideologies. To the thought’s dismay, it is not. Even if both documents start from the same question of taxation, the outputs vary enormously in that each has different aims: the English Bill of Rights (shortened as the English Bill from now on) only changes the crown and the French Declaration of the Rights of Man (shortened as the French Declaration) changes the whole society. However, they are similar in that both strived for the representation of the masses.
Declarations of the Rights of Man and Citizen had many similar ideas and influences from the Bill of Rights and enlightenment philosophers. They both provided similar principles about taxation, protection against ex post facto, application of criminal law and each puts forward principles of innocent until proven guilty, freedom of speech, press and religion. The French Enlightenment, also English and American influences appear in the articles. Rousseau's idea on Social Contract addressing declaration one, three and six which deals with the principles of equality, nation and general will. Volitre's "Treaty of Toleration" is an aspect to the document as it affects declaration ten. Declaration ten establishes that, "No one should be disturbed for his opinions, even in religion, provided that their manifestation does not trouble public order as established by law." Montesquieu's "Spirit of Laws" context of separation of powers is taken into account as declaration sixteen affirms that if society doesn't contain a separation o...
It was the 4th of July in 1776 when delegates from all thirteen colonies assembled at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Not knowing the full significance of what was about to take place that day,the delegates would do something that would forever change the course of the American people.
Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence for the American colonists to proclaim freedom from Great Britain's oppressor, King George III. American colonists had been suffering for many years when this important document was drafted. King George III had pushed the colonists into a state of tyranny and most decided it was time to start an independent nation under a different type of government. Jefferson focused his piece toward many audiences. He wanted not only King George III and the British Parliament to know the American's feelings, but also the entire world. The time had come for an immense change amongst the American colonists and Jefferson made sure everyone was aware of it by using his superior strategies of persuasion.
When in the course of the household we, the teens, have always had the responsibility of doing the chores around the house.When oneself has to do chores one has to miss out on hanging out with friends, going to the mall, et cetera. Of course we do not wish to be disrespectful toward our parents but it is now time that we write our own Declaration of Independence. It is important that our parents or guardians know how everyone feels about the chores that have been placed on us and why we should be independent.
The Declaration of Independence includes four parts. The first part is the Preamble, which explains why the Continental Congress drew up the Declaration. They felt their reason should be explained to England.
There are many important factors in the Declaration of Independence, which enable the foundation of a new government. These range from describing grievances with England, to how government should be run differently, to the first statement of separation. The first step to the foundation of a new government is the uniting of a people in a common goal. Since all people were feeling violated by English soldiers, it was necessary to state these grievances in order to make people aware that they are not alone. When people learned that others felt the same as them emotion was stirred. The Declaration of Independence listed the grievances such as, “He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither swarms of officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.” The next important step to the foundation of a new government was to gain peoples ambition by showing how the government would be run if a new party took over. This goal was achieved by stating the rights of man. “We hold these truths to be self evident: That all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” This statement made people hopeful and feel kindly toward this new government. The final step in the preparation for a new government was separation from the old government. This was declared twice in the Declaration of Independence. In the beginning, “That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, driving their just powers from the consent of the governed,” and in the end, “that these united colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent states; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British crown, and that all political connection between them and the state of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved. In conclusion, the Declaration of Independence was able to motivate people, give them ambition, and made it simple for Americans to take action.
The American Revolution was when the American Colonies rejected British rule and overthrew the authority of Great Britain which help found the United States of America. It was a long road but it was built over time with tension between the 13 colonies and the British rule of King George III. In 1733 the Molasses Act was imposed for six percent of every gallon sold from non-English colonies. This act was to make products cheaper from the British than the French. This act was rarely collected because of smugglers and it was opposed by most colonists. The Sugar Act was to raise revenues or the American revenue act that was passed by the Parliament of Great Britain. It was passed around the time of a depression, so protests began to develop around
What is the Declaration of Independence? The declaration of independence states that all individuals have inalienable rights, requiring life, liberty, and property, a document by which the thirteen colonies proclaimed their independence from Great Britain. If these rights are not protected, people have the right to abolish the government and institute a new one that is willing to secure those rights and their happiness. The declaration was written by Jefferson when he had the vision that America should be liberal. While liberals wanted to over through the government, conservatives believed that not every person should receive the same privilege, not every person is the same and therefore, not every person should be created equal. America is viewed as a liberal state. Thomas Jefferson once said, “When the people fear the government, there is tyranny, when the government fears the people, there is liberty.” This was the strongest reason for the people to bear arms, so that they can be protected from tyranny in the government. People wanted their independence.
On August 26, 1789, the assembly issued the “Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen.” Through judicial matters, this document was written in order to secure due process and to create self-government among the French citizens. This document offered to the world and especially to the French citizens a summary of the morals and values of the Revolution, while in turn justifying the destruction of a government; especially in this case the French government, based upon autocracy of the ruler and advantage. The formation of a new government based upon the indisputable rights of the individuals of France through liberty and political uniformity.
John Locke’s social contract theory applies to all types of societies in any time era. Although, Jean-Jacques Rousseau did write during the Renaissance era, his philosophy limits itself to fix the problem of an absolute monarchy and fails to resolve other types of societies. These philosophers have such profound impacts on modern day societies. For example, the United States’ general will is codified in the Constitution and Bill of Rights, meanwhile individual rights are distinguished in the Declaration of