Who Is Thomas Jefferson's Ideas In The Declaration Of Independence

576 Words3 Pages

The natural given right of life, liberty and the right to own property ideas of the philosopher John Locke were fundamental to the creation of probably the two most important document of the United States: The Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution. This was achieved during 18th century within the Enlightenment period. In the Enlightenment period reasoning was the main focus towards a social change in order to eliminate the suffering of human beings and set precedent to the pursuit of happiness. Rogers stated the “Jefferson's ideas in the Declaration of Independence put the 13 Colonies on the road toward the creation of a new, independent nation.” This would have not been possible without the ideology of John Locke and how Thomas Jefferson adapted those ideas. …show more content…

During the Enlightenment, the Americans did not longer agree with the divine right of the British king. The thirteen colonies wanted to pursuit different things such as life, liberty and the right to own their own property. “Rejecting the divine right of kings, Locke said that societies form governments by mutual (and, in later generations, tacit) agreement. Thus, when a king loses the consent of the governed, a society may remove him—an approach quoted almost verbatim in Thomas Jefferson’s 1776 Declaration of Independence” (History.com Staff). Who was Thomas Jefferson? Thomas Jefferson was a traitor according to the British monarchy and if capture he would have been hang no question asks. However, he was a patriot, one the founding father for the establishment of the new nation and a third president of the United States of America. According to History.Com Staff “The Congress formally adopted the Declaration of Independence–written largely by Jefferson–in Philadelphia on July 4, a date now celebrated as the birth of American