Government Case
Essay Preview: Government Case
Report this essay
Government exists to protect its citizens natural rights. Above all else, each citizen has the right to do what they need to survive. In order to survive and thrive, people try and seek peace, surrender their rights, and enforce and obey contracts. These needs are what binds man into society, and produce the need for a government. Collectively these three laws of nature are why each individual has the right to possess freedom and property. Therefore, Freedom and property are things that human beings naturally possess, and government has the duty of protecting these rights.
Locke believes that in the state of nature, freedom and property will only exist under a form of government. He believes that men unite themselves under government for the preservation of their property. Because men give up their equality, liberty, and executive power when they enter society under that state of nature, they expect government to protect them. He believes that the government needs to create laws to act as the standard for right and wrong to protect our freedom and property. Government should use its power to secure everyones property and to ensure safety, peace, and the public good for the people. He believes that without government to protect freedom and property, these rights will be taken from the people.
The U.S. Constitution was created to designate the extent of powers of the American government. The separation of powers limits one branch of government from obtaining too much power that could eventually lead to a loss in individual freedom and property. The constitution structures the government by creating the legislative branch, judicial branch, and the executive branch. The legislative branch makes the laws for the United States and is separated into two parts; the House of Representatives and the Senate. With this further separation of the legislative branch, it prevents the government from obtaining too much power. This makes it harder to pass legislation because it must be approved by more representatives. Therefore people have a larger representation in government to make it easier to access control over their freedom and right to property. The executive branch was created to carry out laws by Congress, thus making the branch unable to enact laws without others approval. This makes it more difficult for the government to infringe on the peoples rights. The judicial branch makes it possible for the people to appeal in cases where their rights are challenged. This branch helps protect the peoples rights that are given to them by the constitution. The separation of power allows government to equally supply the people with their given rights stated by the constitution.
Patrick Henry believes that the government is created to fully protect our rights and believes that the constitution takes away our individual ability to protect ourselves, given their extent of power over our liberty. He believes that