How Did John Locke Influence The Declaration Of Independence

John Locke’s influence on the creation of what is known as American can be shown by Thomas Jefferson influence on the Declaration of Independence.“a man of versatile mind, fitted for whatever you shall undertake” describes how many of his fellow friends view him. I’ll show how his ideas of knowledge, political philosophy and economics have shaped America. In such documents as The Second Treatise of Government and A Letter Concerning Toleration- Locke inspired the founding documents of the United States of America.

John Locke is the oldest of three sons born of John and Agnes Locke on August 29th, 1632 died 28th on October 28th 1704. His father was turned to law instead of merchant trade, which, “the greatest English merchant under Henry the

Without them he would not soon have been recognized by Voltaire as, along with Newton.”(2) These to great minds showed the great influence not only made on American, but also the world.

John Locke’s idea of Natural Law is one the major ideas behind the founding fathers driving efforts to start the Revolutionary War. The idea that man has a choice in what he choices to do with his life without the influence of government or in there case a monarch. Britain tried to tax the American settlers with the Stamp Act of 1970s and the Sugar Act of 1764 which ultimately drove the Americans into war because it was taxation without representation. As a result of winning the war against the British, American soon came up with the creation of the The Articles of the Constitution and soon after that the Bill of

First was that of “the colonization of the New World and the expansion of trade created a substantial class of prosperous merchants who did not, by birth or inclination, identify with the traditional ruling aristocracy.” Another was the changing religious influences on Americans “the broadening of the Anglican Church further attenuated the grip of Catholic social philosophy.” and lastly the “weakening the monarchy and strengthening the Parliament, had demonstrated the potential power of the middle class,” “and Locke’s appeal for limited government appealing formulations of their own innermost convictions.” These many influence showed the many ways in which Locke was able to influence the future America.

Locke’s ideas on the three part federal system helped influence founders like Madison and his thoughts, “the notion that men are by nature essentially bellicose and antagonistic, a conviction that Locke shared with Thomas Hobbes, was invoked by Madison to justify the creation of federal system of government with its diffusion of political powers among three putatively co-equal branches of government at the federal level and among the