AP Government: Ideals of Democracy

Introduction

Welcome to Heimler's History for the new year.
Focus: Explaining how democratic ideals are reflected in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.

Democratic societies recognize the need for government but prefer it to be limited.
Influence of the Enlightenment on the founders of the U.S.

Natural Rights
- People are born with certain rights given by their creator (not by a monarch).
- Key Thinkers:
  - John Locke: Rights of life, liberty, and property.
  - Thomas Hobbes: State of nature is chaotic; government needed for order.
Popular Sovereignty and Social Contract
- Power to govern is in the hands of the people.
- People consent to give some power to government to protect their rights.
- Key Thinker:
  - Jean-Jacques Rousseau: Government must uphold the social contract; if it becomes tyrannical, people should overthrow it.
Republicanism
- Government formed by elected representatives.
- Key Thinker:
  - Baron de Montesquieu: Advocated for separation of powers to prevent tyranny.

Outlined reasons for break from British Empire.
Key Figures:
- Written by Thomas Jefferson with help from John Adams and Benjamin Franklin.
Significant portions demonstrating Enlightenment thought:
- "All men are created equal" - influenced by Locke.
- "Endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights..." - Natural Rights.
- "Governments are instituted among men" - Social Contract.
- "Deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed" - Popular Sovereignty.

Not the first Constitution; replaced the ineffective Articles of Confederation.
Drafted at the Philadelphia Convention (1787) led by George Washington and James Madison.
Reflects:
- Republicanism: Representative republic instead of pure democracy.
- Separation of Powers: Three branches of government (executive, legislative, judicial) with checks and balances.