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=Final Full Paper Meshed by Preston=

Natural Rights Philosophy and Classical Republicanism are two conflicting theories about government that were brought together by the framers of the U.S. Constitution in order to form a more perfect union. We will talk about the essential differences between Natural Rights Philosophy and Classical Republicanism, how these two philosophies influenced the framers of the U.S. Constitution, and why these two beliefs stressed the need for education and preparation for citizenship.

In its most polar form, Natural Rights Philosophy would revolve entirely around the individual. The individual has certain inalienable rights that cannot be taken away and all individuals are motivated by self-interest. However, Natural Rights cannot always be so one-sided. Natural Rights philosophers have realized that in order to protect these rights of the individual, people must come together and form a social contract. The essence of the social contract revolves around the people allowing themselves to be governed and giving power to the government so that it protects their natural rights.

The most extreme Classical Republicanists care absolutely nothing for people’s natural rights and focus solely on the common good. Classical Republicanism supporters believe that people should be motivated by civic virtue and be dedicated to the government and helping to further the common good. Classical Republicanism supporters believe that all people should vote and express ideas about government to help decide what was for the common good and the best way of pursuing the common good. In most cases not everyone cares for the common good and so Classical Republicanism gets meshed together with Natural Rights Philosophy to form a unique type of government.

This unique type of government is what the framers created when they began to draft the Constitution of the United States of America. They took aspects from both Natural Rights Philosophy and Classical Republicanism to form the fundamental principles upon which the United States Government works. One of the prime examples of Natural Rights Philosophy can be found in the Declaration of Independence. Thomas Jefferson wrote about the injustices done to the American Colonies by England and the ways in which England violated the social contract leading the American Colonies to break away and form their own government. During the ratification of the U.S. Constitution, Anti-Federalist founding fathers were appalled by the lack of a Bill of Rights in the original U.S. Constitution. This is one of the main reasons they rallied against it. In // Brutus IX // Robert Yates sums up their views in the very first sentence: "The design of civil government is to protect the rights and promote the happiness of the people." Ultimately the Anti-Federalists were able to get a Bill of Rights added to the Constitution. It’s not so much that the Bill of Rights is granting the rights to the people as it is a promise from the American Government that it will protect those rights of its people. It is probably the most well known Social Contract formed between the American people and the American government.

During the ratification of the U.S. Constitution many of the Federalists aligned with Classical Republicanism beliefs. Classical Republican supporters believed that factions and interest groups are a threat to the common good because factions are fractions of the whole that often don’t align with the main common good of the people. Factions create dissent and draw people away from working for the common good. These views were expressed by the Federalist Framers of the U.S. Constitution in // Federalist Paper No. 10 // when Madison discusses factions, the danger they pose, and how to prevent them from forming. In today’s government we see two dominant political parties showing that factions have indeed formed, but under the U.S. Constitution people have the right to vote for their representatives providing yet more evidence that Classical Republicanism exists in our government today. And while there are factions, they are kept under control by our system of checks and balances and separation of powers two of the five improvements Alexander Hamilton suggests in // Federalist Paper No. 9 //.

Classical Republicans stress the need for education and they want people to prepare for citizenship. Moral education was important to Classical Republicans because if citizens were not educated in their history and values they would not be able to participate in society correctly. Aristotle once said, "Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all”. This is applied when educating children about how to be a good citizen. If people were not prepared to join their society they would not function well and would become a drag on the community. Classical Republicanism is evident in our school system today in which we have organizations to help encourage people to participate in the community such as volunteer organizations like J.O.O.I and Boy Scouts. We also see certain morals such as treating everyone fairly and tolerance being pressed upon children so that they will grow up to be proper citizens.

Natural Rights philosophers believe that the all people are born equal and that their opportunities should not be limited in any way by their situations. In order to keep people from gaining too much power over others and limiting those other people’s rights they believe that everyone should have an equal opportunity for education so that everyone has the same opportunities and no one is condemned to a low demeaning job simply because they’re uneducated. Natural Rights philosophy shows its impact in government simply by the fact that we have public education for all children willing. In our current system all students are able to attend school and obtain the same knowledge that everyone else does. Schools today also have certain organizations such as Junior Statesmen of America that allow students to interact with government. If only certain people ever get involved in government, then the government will lose touch with the people and likely begin to take away Natural Rights.

Natural Rights philosophy and Classical Republicanism could be thought of as two ideologies on opposite ends of the spectrum with a common point in the middle. As we have stated Natural Rights focuses on the rights of the individual but in order to protect these rights a social contract must be formed. This social contract involves working together for a common goal and shows an aspect of Natural Rights that grows close to Classical Republicanism which focuses on working together for the common the good. The two ideologies come close on the topic of education as well since both agree that children must be trained in good civic values so they participate in government.

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