The years before the Enlightenment were very important to the development to the ideas that inevitably would shape the world today. Before the Enlightenment was the time period called the Middle Ages. During this time religion was the focus of life and government at the time was base on feudalism. In the years leading up to it, and the early years of Enlightenment there were strong monarchs throughout Europe. These monarchs were justifyi

John Locke was an Enlightened thinker. He developed contrasting ideas to Hobbe's that had a more positive view on human nature. He had faith in the human capacity for goodness. John Locke believed that each person could learn from each of their experiences and learn from their mistakes. This meant that each person was a responsible being and each person had the natural ability to look after themselves. Therefor he believed people didn't need a controlling government. In fact he criticized the absolute monarchy where one person governed and made decisions for many. He favored the idea of self government. This included free and open debate, religious tolerance, jury trials, and especially legal protection of individual rights. Unlike Hobbes, who believed that a government was necessary to control the selfish and wicked people, Locke believed that a government was necessary for very different reasons. He believed that a government was supposed to be set up for the people only to preserve the rights of them. It was set to protect, not restrain. John Lockes differing ideas were extremely significant and when put to use in government were extremely important.

John Locke not only had a great impact on England but also in what is the present day United States. People were leaving England and settling new lands in hopes of a new way of life away from the monarchs of England. As more people from England emigrated to the new lands they brought along with them Enlightened ideas. These Enlightened views led to the Revolutionary War, which was fought because of what the patriots saw as tyranny against the British government. In fact, the Revolutionary War was justified with examples of Locke's ideas. His idea that a government comes from the consent of the people is what made the United States government what it is today. People vote for who they want to be a the leader (president) and that person would lead with the ideas of the people. This is now called a representative government which is still used today and now is being used in many countries. The founding fathers of the United States drew directly upon John Locke's ideas as they formulated the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution giving citizens freedoms that emphasized the importance of the separation of powers, separation of church and state, religious liberty, and a Bill of Rights. In the Declaration of Independence the colonists stated many of King George III's abuses. One of these was, "He has made judges dependent on his will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount of payment

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