The philosophy of the founding fathers is analyzed including the idea of stability in government, republicanism, and the nature of man. The Constitution was issued by prominent figures of society such as lawyers, businessmen, merchants, or investors. Their intellectual ideas were based on Calvinistic views and from Hobbes’s theory. They believed in the sense of human evil and that men are selfish. The makers of the constitution imagined a humane and democratic society that could be controlled by government.
At the beginning of our country the Constitution was not meant to be read as a collection a suggestions rather as a way to get men away from their old tendencies. Those were the days where the rights of the average man were the top priority of the government. Today however we need to remember that the rule of the law is supposed to focus on the rights of the citizens and not on who is wearing what in Hollywood. Over the years we have ruined our government, even Woodrow Wilson said, “I have unwillingly ruined my government.” The factors now included in Rule of Law are a little different from they were 250 years ago. To find out why the Founding Fathers Chose Rule of Law we need to look at several reasons why our nations’ officials like or don’t like the rule of law.
John Locke says, “The reason why men enter into society is the preservation of their property; and the end while they choose and authorize a legislative is that there may be laws made, and rules set… to limit the power and moderate the dominion of every part and member of the society.” (Sec. 222) John was a big believer that a good government only happened when he was appointed by the people. Locke thinks that man will give their property and trust into a king that they specifically pick. Back then, it was absurd for a king t... ... middle of paper ... ...ent strangers from leaving; that species of tyranny has no place in our customs or our laws. All men are free.
Using Rogers Smith’s Civic Ideals as a foundation, this essay illustrates that the view of the Anti-Federalists is that the United States of America is combined of many different people, and that representation should be based on these differences rather than just the elite population. In the late 1780s there where a variety of men that would need to be represented by the government. These men included everyone from aristocratic land owners, to merchants, to hard laborers. The Anti-Federalists knew that all of these men needed to be represented in the government so that there were no laws made with the intention to harm a certain group’s way of life. In Federal Farmer Letter VII it is said that “Each order must have a share in the business of legislation actually and efficiently” (Hammond 559).
That the people living in the country should decide what laws they live by and what there freedoms are. He also thought that peoples ability to reason meant th... ... middle of paper ... ...hout his contributions to the Enlightenment period our country might have turned out the opposite of now. I think that without Montesquieu’s contributions to government our world would not be where it is today. Because of this one person our country is set up where the people living in it are the ones who get to decide what happens to them. The people are in charge of their own governmental system; putting them in charge of their own life.
The intentions of the Fathers was never to create a democracy, what they wanted to do was to allow people to vote for their representatives, so that those chosen would be able to make new additions to law as well as govern the rest and choose what would be for greater good, for everyone else, with good intentions and greater knowledge and wisdom. The Founding Fathers weren’t the first to come up with this idea, the Roman Republic fascinated them in every way, from their architecture, all the way down to their art, but what captured the attention of the Fathers was the form of government the Romans had. Although many Americans want to believe that we are a democracy because of “We the people”, to call it so would make them incorrect, because there is no such thing as being governed by the people, we fall through with being governed by others who we choose to
Furthermore, Jefferson states, “For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of a Trial by Jury” (82). The colonist weren’t trialed fairly, and Jefferson believed a government should give their citizen a fair trial. Each citizen should have an equal judgment because the... ... middle of paper ... ...secure the people, and it’s the people’s obligation to obey by the laws instituted to them. He had envisioned a government that wouldn’t abuse the rights of the people. The government can control the people, but the people have a say in how the government should govern them.
Back in the 1700s, the citizens living in the colonies did not agree with Britain’s form of government. With that in mind,. the Founding Fathers made sure that the Constitution was a social contract; something that makes sure the citizens and the government are on the same page to guarantee that no individual rights are infringed upon. When the Constitution was written, many of the federalists feared that the citizen’s rights were being taken away; therefore, the Bill of Rights was established to secure rights for the people and guard the abuse of power. The Bill of Rights however, only covers the first ten amendments; the next seventeen were created to enhance parts of the constitution.
In an absolute government, the people are not in a position to question the government on their decisions. Moreover the corruption in those governments can run a muck if not checked. In order to circumvent this Locke suggests creating separate powers to both pass and enforce the law. Locke was one of the first political philosophers to separate powers of the government, which was in direct difference from the absolute monarchies he was living under. According to John Locke the government should consist of a legislative branch and an executive branch (Locke 1681, 335-37).
From this anger the founding fathers knew that the key to a good government was through representation of the ... ... middle of paper ... ...ia the political corruption and the lobbying, being a politician no longer is about representing the wishes of the people who put you in office but about representing the wishes of whoever is willing to throw money your way. In order to fix America we must return to the limited powers set in place by the constitution, designed to keep the government in check. The government isn’t meant to be a totalitarian entity, or to suffer weakly under a lack of authority, but to maintain a balance between its people, its states, and serve as an example to all other nations. Our forefathers set out to make this nation great and it still can be so long as we work together as one unified nation to fix it. No longer do must our nation suffer under the tyranny, be it from olden kings, or modern men, we shall once again take up a revolution not of the physical form but of the mind.