The Framers were very important people in our history. They were known as visionaries and because of them, they designed the constitution in which it addresses the specific challenges the nation went up against during their lifetime. The Constitution set the groundwork for establishing the principles of laws, rights, and actions that would help us build as a nation to the end of time. The Constitution has a lot of important ideas involving the nation and making sure it is safe. But the framers didn’t come up with all their important ideas on the spot, they had influences that resulted in the making of the constitution.
The three main influences the framers had on the Constitution were Aristotle, the Bill of Rights of 1689, and John Locke. One of the earliest influences the framers had on the constitution was Aristotle, the Greek Philosopher. They were influenced by him because Aristotle wrote a collection of essays about the government where that talked about the “right” kind of government. It involved common goods and democracy, not self-interest. You could think of Aristotle’s writing as the first small draft of the Constitution. Another major influence was the Bill of Rights of 1689. The Bill of Rights of 1689 was about giving civil rights and liberties to individuals like the freedom of speech, press, and religion. This was a heavy influence on the Constitution and was added to the Constitution as the first 10 amendments.
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Another major influence was from one person, John Locke. John Locke was an English philosopher who was commonly known as the 'Father of Liberalism'. In his mind, he believed that the government must protect its citizen's rights which consisted of their life, liberty, and property. But John Locke’s ideas and views not only influenced the Constitution but also the Declaration of Independence. The Founding Fathers were taking influence from two English philosophers, John Locke and Thomas Hobbes. Hobbes believed the very opposite of Locke. Hobbs thought that the government should have full control over their citizens. Whereas Locke believed the government should have no control over its citizens and instead give them unalienable rights and freedom.
Locke’s political ideas were liked by the founding fathers, especially Thomas Jefferson, who was heavily influenced by Locke when writing the Declaration of Independence. The design of the Constitution solved two problems which were how to unify one nation and how to prevent tyranny. This is where James Madison wrote the essay called “Federalist 10” whose purpose was to respond to the argument that a large republic won’t survive. Its goal was to devise a republic in which a majority of citizens would be unable to tyrannize the minority. He believed that it wouldn’t fail because of how well it was written. However, there were problems with this essay. The main problem was factions which Madison saw as “several citizens, whether amounting to a minority or majority of the whole, who are united and actuated by some common impulse of passion, or of interest, adverse to the rights of other citizens, or the permanent and aggregate interests of the community.” (Lecture) This means that not everyone is going to have the same opinion. And from what we know about collective action problems, it seems to be true.
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Essay on Why Did the Framers Choose Federalism.
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