DO NOW: Stranded

Imagine that you are shipwrecked on an island

with 50 other people. They could be strangers
or people you know, but you all have one
problem in common: there is no way to leave
this island. How will you organize yourselves?
What will you do to survive?
 Objectives
I will be able to:
– Describe what life would be like without laws
– Create five basic laws/rights
– Explain who John Locke was and his beliefs about
basic rights
Life without Laws?
What rights should every person on this island have?

On a sheet of paper, your group will record a list of

rights that everyone in the new land should have.
Create a separate list of 5 basic rules (laws) that
everyone must follow. How should the group of
people decide on the laws and rules? Record your
ideas!
 GOVERNMENT
• Write words or draw pictures that come to
mind about when you hear the word
“government.”
• What is the reason or purpose for having a
government?
• Pair and Share.
 Freedom Security

John Locke
 READ THE ARTICLE
• Who was John Locke and
what was His Big Idea?
Underline the words that you don’t understand.
 John Locke
 Born in England in 1632

 Published several books about

government

 Believed in rights for the

individual

 John Locke’s ideas about

government and personal
rights greatly influenced the
Declaration of Independence
 Beliefs of John Locke
 Disagreed with dictatorships

 Disagreed with Divine Rights of Kings (ruling

by authority of God)

 Believed unjust rulers could be forced from

power

 Believed rulers received right to govern from

the people
 Most Famous Belief of John Locke

 Believed in idea of Natural Rights

- Rights that belong to people, “by nature,”
that is, simply because they are human
being

 Natural rights of people: life,

liberty, and property

 Thomas Jefferson borrowed John

Locke’s Ideas about natural rights
when writing the Declaration of
Independence
 John Locke
• Believed that people are basically moral and
reasonable. They want to do the right thing.
• All people are born free & equal with three natural
rights- life, liberty, and property
• Government exists at the consent of the governed to
protect their rights. If the government fails to protect
these rights, the contract is broken and the people
may change or replace the government.
• Wrote Two Treatises of Government stressing the best
governments had limited power—not an absolute
monarchy
 Answer this questions
1. Was John Locke right? Do you think living in a state
of nature would really be dangerous and
challenging?
2. What is a social contract? Why is it needed?
3. Do you think people need to agree to a set of rules
in order to protect their most basic rights?
4. What rights do you think are the most important?
5. In your opinion, do you think that the world would
be a better place without laws and systems?