Freedom of expression and the enlightenment

Two Treatises of Government
, Locke argued that in 
the state of nature men were in a “state of perfect freedom to order their actions, and 
dispose of their possessions and persons, as they think fit, within the bounds of the law of 
nature, without asking leave, or depending upon the will of any other man” and were in a 
state of equality.
132
Although it can be argued that this belief in equality was what led the 
framers of the Constitution to eschew a monarch in favor of an elected President and to 
forbid grants of nobility, it is some of Locke’s other ideas that come into play in this 
discussion of rights. Essentially, all men are free to do what they like, and they are 
governed only by the law of nature, which says to preserve mankind. In order to do this, 
they must give up some of their liberty to a government and work in conjunction with one 
another. Even though they are giving up some freedom, the government is supposed to 
protect their rights. People have certain rights, and these rights cannot be taken away by 
the government, and these amendments were attempting to put that into words.
Another way to see the American founders’ concern with freedom of expression 
and their commitment to Enlightenment ideals is to evaluate the arguments surrounding 
the adoption of the Constitution. James Madison went so far as to claim that the new 
government was “the only substitute for those military establishments which have 
subverted the liberties of the old world.”
133
For Madison, the monarchies of Europe 
132
Locke, 
Two Treatises of Government
, 106. 
133
James Madison, “The Federalist XIV,” in 
The Debate on the Constitution: Part One
, ed. Bailyn, 431.

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oppressed their people and prevented them from exercising their rights, but this new 
government would prevent the deterioration of America. Another argument concerned 
the distinction between “free” and “arbitrary” governments: in a free government the 
people are able to accept the laws they have, whereas in an arbitrary government the 
people have no say in their own laws. Furthermore, the reason why a free government has 
the ability to protect the rights of the people is that the people would not be willing to 
give their consent to laws that were oppressive.
134
If the people were able to choose their 
own government, as they were doing in America, their government would protect their 
rights. This is the key to understanding Enlightenment influence on the American 
Revolution. The American people believed that they were capable of reasoning for 
themselves and improving upon old institutions. The American Revolution truly 
embodied the enlightened spirit.
The French Revolution had a much more complicated legacy. France, of course, 
had intervened in the American Revolution and had helped the colonies achieve their 
independence. This helped spread new ideas among the French, but the war also 
contributed to France’s mounting debt. Once the French Revolution started, many 
Americans were supportive, at least in the early years. Thomas Jefferson and Thomas 
Paine had high hopes for the French Revolution, thinking it had a “good prospect of 
extending liberty throughout the greatest part of Europe.”
135
Of course, part of the 
support came from Americans’ belief that the French Revolution emulated the American 
Revolution and would not have been possible without it: “would the parliament of Paris 
have resisted the edicts of their monarch, and justified this step in a language that would 
134
“The Republican to the People,” 712-3.
135
Israel,