Similarities Between John Locke's Work And The American Revolution

The final, most-readily apparent similarity between Locke’s work and the American Revolution manifests itself in the revolutionary manner and mechanism. John Locke’s model of revolution calls for a restorative one, in which a society attempts to revert back to a previous state before a tyrannical and oppressing regime took over. Originally, humans exist in a state of nature, but can band together to enact natural laws and create punishments proportional to the crimes. This political society must be agreed upon by the rulers and those being ruled over. Yet, the political bonds that bring people together can deteriorate when a breach of trust occurs. When a breach of trust takes place, leaders “forfeit the power the people had put into their

The American Revolution fits Locke’s restorative model very closely. Originally, the colonies lived in a state of harmony with the English Crown. Jefferson acknowledges such in his Summary View of the Rights of British America. He argues that the revolutionaries’ ancestors, before coming to the new continent, “were the free inhabitants of the British dominions in Europe, and possessed a right which nature has given to all men.” These original ancestors lived in a society that promoted public happiness and respected their citizenship as well as the crown. They received the same rights that the Americans are seeking. However, the king violated this established band

The Declaration of Independence matches several key phrases and thoughts that John Locke used. Locke’s structure of government appears mildly in the American structure, while the method of revolution of the Americans closely mirrors Locke’s story. Of course, the ability to discern Jefferson’s mindset when drafting the Declaration of Independence or planning the revolution is virtually impossible. Historian’s have not discovered any notes that indicate the exclusive inspirations for his writing, nor does Jefferson explicitly mention Locke’s influence in any of his pieces. Moreover, the majority of Jefferson’s personal writings were destroyed in an plantation fire on February 1, 1770, and Locke was generally less studied in American than in England at the time. Thus, concretely concluding that Locke impacted Jefferson’s writing would be impossible to support. Yet, the Lockean ideals that reappear in the American Revolution do not seem to be coincidental, and in the many ways mentioned before, John Locke certainly inspired several facets of the