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In Emile, Rousseau called for a type of education that would preserve what he believed was a child’s natural goodness. In 1762 Rousseau also published his most famous work, The Social Contact. It began, ‘’Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains.’’ According to Rousseau, sovereignty, or the right to rule, rested in the people. Therefore, the people had the right to remove the ‘’chains’’ of an oppressive society and to create a government devoted to the common good. The basis of government, Rousseau held, is a social contract through which people give up their individual rights to the general will, the will of the majority. Those opposing the general will, however, must accept if or be forced to be free. By opposing injustice and supporting government by the people, The Social Contract has shaped democratic thought from the 1700s he presents. However, dictators have used its ideas about the general will to justify their
