Student Paper F991-01
Fall 1999, Section II
Reviewer comments
For a society, one way of human progress is the movement from an uncivilized state to a civilized state. During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, people already civilized their societies. Therefore, human progress at this time was the act of improving the living situation in society. This act was done by the process of developing a governing system that would grant people their rights, and protect the people and their rights. This development allowed society to be more coherent, and it gave the people security and protection, making them peaceable. The political and scientific ideas at this time and the two main constitutional systems in Europe, the English and French systems, caused and reflected this progress.
During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, scientists made several scientific discoveries. The field of science was expanding. The new scientific discoveries at the time revealed to the people that change was attainable. Through new scientific discoveries, people saw that old beliefs in the field of science were changeable. They saw that the new laws or discoveries were dismissing and replacing the old laws or beliefs. Therefore, this led them to think that the old beliefs about society and government were changeable as well. These new ideas about old beliefs being changeable caused people to start thinking that they could change society to a new, better condition. This new mental state of the people allowed the political ideas of several philosophers to influence the ways that people thought that their government should govern them. So obviously, the new scientific discoveries at the time were important in human progression.
Since the people had this new way of thinking, they adopted several of the political ideas of the time. These were the ideas of Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, and Jean Jacques Rousseau. Their ideas that the people adopted were the next step in human progression at this time. Their ideas revealed to the people different views or interpretations of the natural way of man. From these different ideas of man, each philosopher developed a system of governing that would allow for better living situations in society. Since each philosopher had different views from the other, they proposed different systems of government in their political ideas. Therefore, the people adopted these new ideas and began to develop a system of governing, based on the certain political idea that they adopted, that would better their living condition in society.
In considering what type of government the people believed should govern, one must look at the political ideas adopted. Thomas Hobbes thought that man was naturally aggressive, and that man would constantly be at war with each other unless a controlling government was to take control. "Hereby it is manifest that during the time men live without a common power to keep them all in awe, they are in that condition which is called war; and such a war as is of every man against every man."(1) So, Hobbes proposed that a monarchy was the best type of government to better the people's lives in society. On the other hand, John Locke thought that man was inherently good. He proposed that man did not need a controlling government, but rather a minimum government. Last, Jean-Jacques Rousseau believed that man was nothing without society. He thought that man needed to be associated with a society that would nurture him. Rousseau believed that the best type of government was one in which the will of the people determined the jaw. "The first and most important conclusion from the principles we have established thus far is that the general will alone may direct the forces of the State to achieve the goal for which it was founded, the common good."(2) These three different political ideas are what the people adopted and used in determining what type of governing body should be instated to provide for better living situations in their society. Therefore, these three ideas helped shape the main two constitution systems in Europe that allowed for human progression.
The first European constitution system that reflected human progress in the seventeenth century was the English. The English, after King James II fled due to the war with King William, developed a new constitution system that lacked a constitution document. This system, consisting of documents written by the people of Parliament, showed how the people had more control in their government. In The Declaration of Right, the people of Parliament pointed out the wrong doings of King James II. They used the wrong doings to show how their rights were violated and not protected. This shows how the people thought that they should guarantee and protect their rights. Then in the document, the people of Parliament made a statement that gave King and Queen William and Mary the throne of England, France, and Ireland. They issued the throne and their loyalty to King William and Queen Mary because they were sure that King William would preserve and protect their rights. "Having therefore an entire confidence that his said Highness the prince of Orange will perfect the deliverance so far advanced by him, and will still preserve them [Parliament] from the violation of their rights, which they have here asserted, and from all other attempts upon their religion, rights, and liberties, the said lords spiritual and temporal, and commons assembled at Westminster, do resolve that William and Mary, prince and princess of Orange, be and be declared king and queen of England, France, and Ireland, and the dominions thereunto belonging..."(3) The fact that the people allowed William and Mary to take over the throne shows that the people considered themselves to have more control. To dismiss any arguments of why they would give the throne to another monarchy, I remind one that one of the political ideas at this time was that of Thomas Hobbes. If several English saw his views fit, then they would decide that another monarchy was the right decision. Also, the people had always had this type of government; therefore, they might have thought that this was the only type of working government. However, the fact remains that the people at this time considered themselves more in control than they did in the past. They considered this because in certain documents which made up their constitution system (The Declaration of Right and Bill of Rights), they made statements in which they insured that they had guaranteed and preserved their rights. This step that the people took in furthering their living conditions is their progression to a better state.
The second constitution system that reflected human progress in
Europe during the eighteenth century was the French system. The new French system itself
was human progress. The people of France went from a monarchy to a republic ruled by the
people. This movement from one type of government to another allowed the people of France
to better their living situation, human progression. One sees human progression in Declaration
of Rights of Man, a document that preceded the French constitution. In this
document, it is noted that the people of France united as one into the French. They formed
the governing body of their country, the National Assembly. This act of uniting allowed
the French to obtain more power in their lives. As this National Assembly, the people
could declare and set up their rights. "Therefore the National Assembly recognizes
and proclaims... the following rights of man and of the citizen:"(4)
In this document, the French people listed the rights that they thought they should
be granted. They listed rights that bettered their living
conditions, and they issued that the power of the government resided in the people.
"The principle of all sovereignty resides essentially in the nation."(5) They thought that to better their condition, they needed to be
able to do whatever they felt necessary. They also issued the right, "Liberty
consists in the freedom to do everything which injures no one else(6)..."
however, considering that some type of governing needed to be in place, they allowed for
the making of laws. Nevertheless, they noted that, the "Law can only prohibit such
actions as are hurtful to society."(7) Therefore, the
limitations on the people's rights were very small. The French did not allow for their
rights to be violated. By issuing these statements, they guaranteed themselves these
rights and limited the resistance to these rights. Last, the French issued their right to
own property, which is something before which they did not have. In the document, they
stated that "Since property is an inviolable and sacred right, no one shall be
deprived thereof except where public necessity, legally determined, shall clearly demand
it, and then only on condition that the owner shall have been previously and equitably
indemnified."(8) By uniting as the National Assembly
and changing types of government, the French were able to write their own constitution. In
this constitution, they guaranteed themselves certain rights and the protection of these
rights. These rights issued in their constitution reflected human progress by guaranteeing
the people that their living condition in society was improving. They could own property
and could &, anything that they wanted. Since the French accomplished this by
obtaining and keeping power in their government, they could maintain
this better living condition. Therefore, they were moving toward a more perfect state. The
scientific discoveries and the political ideas started human progress in the seventeenth
and eighteenth centuries in Europe. However, the two main constitution systems, the
English and the French reflected it. At this time, the people were able to seize more
power in their governments than what they had in the past. This allowed them to dictate
what type of life, or living condition they would have in their society. In the two
constitution systems, one can see how the people bettered their living situations in
society. They were able to develop new governing bodies that granted them more rights and
protected these rights. These actions led to human progression in Europe during the
seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
Works Cited
Declaration of the Rights of Man, www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/rightsof.htm
Jean Jacques Rousseau, The Social Contract 1763, www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/Rousseau-soccon.html
The Declaration of Right, http://history.hanover.edu/early/decright.htm
Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan, www.fordham.edu/halsall/modtliobbes-lev13.html
Notes
1. Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan, www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/hobbes-lev13.html.
2. Jean Jacques Rousseau, The Social Contract 1763, www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/Rousseau-soccon.html.
3. The Declaration of Right, http://history.hanover.edu/early/decright.htm.
4. Declaration of the Rights of Man, www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/rightsof.htm.