USA HISTORY

JACKSONIAN DEMOCRACY 1825 1850

DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA BY ALEXIS DE TOCQUEVILLE

Question [CLICK ON ANY CHOICE TO KNOW THE RIGHT ANSWER]
What idea of John Locke influenced the thinking of Thomas Jefferson?
A
The purpose of government is to protect the rights of people.
B
The power of government is unlimited.
C
Men and women are equal.
D
People cannot change the government.
Explanation: 

Detailed explanation-1: -Jefferson adopted John Locke’s theory of natural rights to provide a reason for revolution. He then went on to offer proof that revolution was necessary in 1776 to end King George’s tyranny over the colonists.

Detailed explanation-2: -Thomas Jefferson used the thoughts first penned by John Locke while writing the Declaration of Independence. The phrase “life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness, ” was an idea first considered by Locke in his Two Treatises on Government.

Detailed explanation-3: -Often credited as a founder of modern “liberal” thought, Locke pioneered the ideas of natural law, social contract, religious toleration, and the right to revolution that proved essential to both the American Revolution and the U.S. Constitution that followed.

Detailed explanation-4: -For Locke, the government must be a “neutral judge” of law with no right to interfere in the lives of the individual. The most radical idea to come from Locke’s pen was the idea of governmental legitimacy. Locke believed that a government should be beholden to the people rather than vice-versa.

Detailed explanation-5: -Both John Locke and Thomas Jefferson believe that people have certain natural rights and that it is the government’s job to protect these rights. Their documents were both written for revolutions, although they were two very different revolutions.

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