John Locke's Justification Of The Declaration Of Independence

John Locke's Second Treatise of Government and Thomas Jefferson's Declaration of Independence are two of the most significant texts of all time. Many countries around the world have used these texts as the foundation for their declaration of independence. These authors laid the base for the knowledge of the State of Natural Rights of human being which is the establishing bases of our government. We can understand that The Second Treatise of Government and the Declaration of Independence are very identical in their message, which clearly substantiate Locke's work influenced Jefferson. Unpredictably as it is, Jefferson has been suspect over the times for plagiarizing John Locke.

One of the major figures in the Enlightenment was an English Philosopher named John Locke. Locke first believed that all citizens had their own right to ultimately choose their own ruler. He strongly believed that citizens should have natural rights. In the Declaration of Independence written by Thomas Jefferson nearly echoing John Locke’s ideas which gave recognition that "all men are created equal" and that all have rights to "Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness." Locke wanted all citizens to have their own freedom and live in society as their own self individual.

John Locke’s Natural Rights stated that all men have three rights they are born with: life, liberty, and property. The first right is life. When a person is created, they are given life. They have the freedom to do what they want with themselves. The next right is liberty. People are given liberty. When someone is born they are automatically given the liberty to move, breathe, talk, etc.; however, some liberty must be earned. The last right is property. While having property would make most people happy, some people may not be as satisfied. In the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson pulled these three main ideas from Locke and incorporated them into the document. While the life and liberty rights stayed the same, he altered the idea of

Although he was the youngest present there, he was selected to be on a team of five to help draw up what is now known as the Declaration of Independence, due to his known writing skills. In Jefferson’s younger years, he often enjoyed reading about the government, which is why we see a large influence of other writers in his works. Jefferson, like Manson, looked to Locke 's idea of men having natural rights specifically with property and liberty by writing “we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” Locke’s idea of how government should get its power can be seen when Jefferson wrote “that to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.” The final way that Locke influenced Jefferson was Locke’s belief that the government should be overthrown when the government does not function for the people. This ideology can be found written that “whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute a new government.” Jefferson also looked to Jean-Jacques Rousseau, author of The Social Contract, for inspirations in his

John Locke was born in 1632. He earned his bachelor’s Degree in 1656 and a master's degree in 1658. In 1690 Locke’s An Essay Concerning Human Understanding appeared. From this came Tabula rasa. This then laid the foundation for environmentalism. Locke was an English philosopher who was regarded as one of the “most influential of enlightenment thinkers” and “important to social contract social” (Wikipedia). Locke died in 1704 never being married or having children. His theories are a part of what we practice today.

Locke had influenced Jefferson in regards to the Declaration of Independence. Reasoning why is because of what Locke’s has stated on the natural rights to life, freedom, government, individualism, liberty and property. He explained how every man has their own freedom, self-sufficiency, property and their own individualism. Jefferson came to terms of being influenced by Locke’s proposal.

He believed that all people are born free and equal, with three natural rights, which included life, liberty, and property. He stated that a government’s purpose was to preserve the rights and if they were to do the complete opposite, they could be kicked out of power. Around the same time that Locke was sharing his thoughts, there was a group of English colonies who were struggling with an oppressive form of government. After a long and extensive war, the American Colonies had gained independence. After a while, they became outraged with the actions of their leader, George III, that violated every single one of their natural rights. Locke’s ideas made them realize how much they wanted and needed to have natural rights. They tried and tried to leave the leadership that was stripping them from their rights by writing out the Declaration of Independence which was fully based on the ideas of Locke. However, their government was not going to let them free, and continued to treat them unfairly. As they saw this occur, the colonists found nothing wrong with breaking free from the abuse that they were facing. As a result of the persistent reminder that every human being was equal, and had natural rights, the Americans made sure that those rights were what motivated the revolution and made up the documents

or possessions..." because at the time of the signing of the Declaration of Independence slavery was being abolished. Another part of the Declaration of Independence were John Locke's ideas are used are when Thomas Jefferson wrote, "That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or abolish it." Thomas Jefferson stole this idea because it allows the people make necessary

John Locke believed that in order to form a good government in society, individual freedom was needed. He believed that people have the right to control or destroy the government if it was not doing its job, which was to preserve the three natural rights of the people. The three natural rights Locke believed needed to be protected were life, liberty, and property. Locke believed that humans were equal no matter what their social rank was. He claimed that the legislative branch was only there to secure the rights everyone was born with. “When the government is dissolved, the people are at liberty to provide for themselves, by erecting a new legislative, … for the society can never … lose the native and original right it has to preserve itself,”

Individual freedom was an important part of John Locke's ideas on a good government. For example(docA) they have not only to get out of a failed government, but to prevent