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How Is John Locke's Social Contract Related To The Declaration Of Independence

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Abreu 3 Deward Abreu Mrs. Duncan History 1301 5 October 1015 “Declaration of Independence, synonym of freedom.” The Declaration of Independence is the document I which the thirteen colonies expressed their freedom to Great Britain. The Declaration of Independence states some of the principles and thoughts of the Founding fathers. The first thing stated in the Declaration of Independence is that all people are free and equal because they were born with a certain set of rights that cannot be taken away. The Declaration of independence also states that if the government does not do their job, then the people have the right to start a new government. The Declaration of Independence expresses important ideas …show more content…

According to the social contract theory the government only exist as a result of a contract between those who govern and those who are governed. Without a government people are free, the only reason why people agree to have a government and give up to some of their freedom is because they exchange it for protection. There are many examples of how Thomas Jefferson inspired on Lock’s social contract. On the social contract John Locke say: “All men are born with certain “natural rights’’, among them are life, liberty, and property.” Since the Declaration of Independence, in part, was inspired by Locke’s contract there are many similarities between them. The Declaration of Independence says: “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.”(Declaration of Independence US 1776) As we can see the social contract and The Declaration of Independence are alike in many aspects. The Declaration of Independence is not only to list the freedoms of the people, it is also a list of reclamations of what Americans don't like about Britain's policy.

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The Second Treatise of Civil Government and the Declaration of Independence share many ideas and principles. One of which is that they both include topics referencing to the ideas of liberty and freedom for mankind. As stated in Section 6 of John Locke’s Second Treatise of Civil Government is that “man in that state has uncontrollable liberty” is mentioned again in Jefferson's Declaration of Independence “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness”. Both of the aforementioned quotes are explaining that man has liberty and freedom. Another similarity between the two documents is that both mention the idea of if the government becomes corrupt that the government must forfeit the power it has secured back to the people.

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