How Did John Locke Influence The American Revolution

John Locke was born into a Puritan religious household which helped influence his political beliefs. Locke was a modern English philosopher known for his strong belief in a limited, liberal government. As he became more of an important figure in the Enlightenment, he became known for being the, “Father of Liberalism.” Locke’s involvement with politics influenced the french during the French Enlightenment and the founding fathers of the American Revolution. Locke influenced the French to want a government whose primary goals was in establishing a moral responsibility and to protect the lives of the civilians. The founding fathers also took in Locke’s ideas of establishing a Democracy. Locke was fond of the United States for creating their own republic filled with independence and creating their own constitution. Locke is seen as one of the most influential philosophers to influence Thomas Jefferson’s statements in the Declaration of Independence. Jefferson took Locke’s words of, “life, liberty, and property” and changed the word “property” to

Which was a philosophical movement created during the 17th and 18th century of the Enlightenment. Empiricism focused on sense over knowledge, in which no man could gain through experience but only through sense. Many Empiricists believe there is no other dimension outside our world, which leads them to believe in the theory to, “reject attempts to decide issues on the basis of pure reason or religious or political authority” (Empiricism 2017). They follow the assumption that science does not only stand by the laws of experience, but it uses sense to be the legitimate answer for knowledge. Another group of Empiricists believe that sense is not to be used for knowledge, but “their role is to expose theories to sharp criticism” (Empiricism 2017). Which leads this group of Empiricists to mainly provide evidence against theories to prove them