How the United States Government Affects a Society of United States Citizens
“The legitimate object of government is to do for a community of people whatever they need to have done, but cannot do at all in their separate and individual capacities. ... This quote was stated by President Abraham Lincoln in an address to the American people and is the model used today for all political leaders to define government and their involvement in the process. ... government was established with the Declaration of Independence with the basis of power coming from English Philosopher John Locke and his Social Contract Theory. But with many reforms over the last two hundred and twenty six years government has changed in order to fit in with a change in what society wants now. By looking at the creation and ideals of the United States Government and their original powers, the three separate institutions created in the Constitution, the Civil Rights movement, education, and the security for the people, one can see that although ideals and policies may have changes, the fundamentals and purposes are still the same. The concept of the United States government came from the ideals of English philosopher John Locke. In his book Second Treatise of Civil Government (1690), Locke describes that people are all born equal, a concept stated in the Declaration of Independence for the United States of America. ... This extraordinary idea soon became the motto of the United States, that all men were in fact equal. The new government’s primary job was to make sure that all men we being treated equal, at all costs. ... Being the first centralized government to be created on United States soil, there was much scrutiny as to what they could do. Most of the original powers went to local states governments, because they could distinguish problems citizens of their state had more then a national government. ... But in order for this task to be obtained, the new government had to delegate their powers, since it was such a vast task. With the ratification of the Constitution of the United States on March 4th 1789, the government was divided into three institutions, the legislative, the executive and the judicial branches. ... The powers that were given to congress with this article of the constitution were: collect taxes, borrow money on credit for the United States, regulate commerce with foreign nations, rules of naturalization, coin money, establish post offices, promote science and the arts, to regulate tribunals inferior to the Supreme Court, to set punishments, to declare war, to raise and support armies, to provide and maintain a navy, to call a militia to control and maintain the laws of the United States, and to create laws necessary and proper to the maintaining of the Constitution of the United States.