Jean+Jacques+Rousseau

**Jean Jacques Rousseau and his Contributions to American Democracy **

Background- He was born in 1712 and was a Genevan writer and philosopher. Jean Jacques Rousseau had a big impact in the French Revolution with his political view points and opinions. He wrote many books about fictional romanticism and really started the "Age of Sensibility." That means that he really studied how the human mind worked and how people thought.

“Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains.” This led to the belief that all people are born free, and led to the ideals of freedom in a democracy.

“Man's freedom consists, not in being able to do whatever he wills, but that he should not, by any human power, be forced to do what is against his will.” This led to the concept of a government ruled by the people, so that they can have the freedom to choose how the government functions.

“Every person has a right to risk their own life for the preservation of it.” This explains that all people have rights, which is the basis of how the U.S government works. In 1762, Rousseau published //The Social Contract//, which outlined a type of government based off of classical republicanism, and it was also a work of political philosophy. It stated that men are constantly pressured by the idea of competition amongst one another, and eventually a leader will emerge. He believed that people were allowed to have their own opinion and be their own authority. However, for the benefit of the country, people are supposed to put their country first and their personal preferences second. Putting the country’s rights will allow for a more negotiable type of government. He believed that men acted one way before society was created, and he called this the state of nature. All of his principles have influenced Democracy because these ideals are existent in the Declaration of Independence.

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By Alex Natalizio, Emily Wirth and Austin Hansen