The Influence Of John Locke On The American Revolution

The Enlightenment was an extraordinary milestone in the history of mankind. Brilliant minds came together and started to realize that the world around them was built on science. Instead of assuming divine intervention was behind the miracles of the universe, they realized that there were logical explanations. Along with the ideas of reason and knowledge, the Enlightenment also began creating thoughts of liberty and equality. These concepts quickly caught on and after a number of years, they were inspiring the independence-seeking Patriots in the eighteenth century. With that, Enlightenment philosophers had incredible influences on the American Revolution’s politics, economics, social values, and culture. While all Enlightenment thinkers had

In terms of the government, Lock believed that its role was to protect the people’s rights to life, liberty, and property. Due to this, Locke also thought that, “...those who govern must be elected by the society, and the society must hold the power to instate a new Government when necessary.” This idea applied to the Patriots because they felt strongly unsupported by the King and the British parliament. With that, they decided to fight for a government that would not only care for them, but one would be filled with representatives of their choosing. When the Patriots finally won independence and started to design their own political structure, they made sure to make a government that would, as Locke said, protect and listen to their needs. As a matter of fact, when writing the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson incorporated several of Locke’s political philosophies. A prime example of this is when it talks about life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; comparatively, these words are lifted almost verbatim from Locke’s stances. Without Locke and his Enlightenment ideals, the American government system would look incredibly

Of course, Locke changed the regular customs in America through his political ideologies, but his views on religious freedom were equally influential. Locke was essentially a rationalist when it came to Christianity, and he did not support the idea of faith being forced onto people or that religion should have rigorous principles. This had an effect on the colonists because even though the entire idea of Enlightenment was to separate from faith, religion was still a huge part of daily life. With that, the reason that groups like the Separatists or other religious minorities started coming to America in the first place was for religious freedom. They were not allowed to practice their faith how they wanted to, and they had no desire to stay in a place where they were told what they had to believe. Similarly to Locke’s ideas of political freedom, the colonists also wanted to create a government that would allow them to practice the faith of their choosing. In fact, many believe that, “Locke’s most direct contribution to the First Amendment lies in his defense of religious toleration.” Locke’s religious philosophies were greatly supportive in improving the culture and social values of the American