Thomas Hobbes And John Locke - 1361 Words

Thomas Hobbes and John Locke were two English thinkers in the seventeenth-century who s ideas became a key to the Enlightenment. Baron de Montesquieu and Voltaire were philosophers who applied the methods of science to understand and improve society. Thomas Hobbes believed in a powerful government. He believed people were naturally cruel, greedy, and selfish, and if they were not strictly controlled they would commit crimes and abuse one another. He believed that life with no government would be horrible and in order to escape the horrible life that one had to sign a social contract, which was an agreement were the people gave up their freedom for an organized society. He also believed that only a powerful government could guarantee a†¦show more content†¦If a government failed at it necessities or violated peoples rights, people had a right to overthrown the government. Montesquieu was a philosopher who had different thoughts about the government. He believed that it was be st to divide the power and functions of the government into three branches. Those three branches were known as the legislative, executive, and judicial. He also believed that each branch of government should be able to serve as a check to to each other. Voltaire was another philosopher who targeted corrupt officials and trivial officials about the abuses of his day. He battled inequality, injustice, and superstition. Voltaire was also against the slave trade and disapproved of religious prejudice. His outspoken acts got him arrested and sentenced to exile, but continued to defend the principle of freedom of speech. Voltaire’s ideas impacted many others the seventeenth-century. Fredrick the Great and Catherine the Great both praised Voltaire work. Catherine believed that Voltaire was a man who fought united mines of humankind. The founding fathers all made a big contribution to the United States. Some of the biggest Contributions included The Declaration of Independence, The Bill of rights, and The Constitution. In the Declaration of Independence, he argued that there should be rules and rights for all people. He also argued that God has given the people certain rights that need to be respected and can not be taken away