How Did John Locke's Influence On The Declaration Of Independence

John Locke was one of the men during the Enlightenment period who believed that the citizens have certain rights that cannot be taken away. These rights include life, liberty, and protection of one’s property. He believed that the people should have the right to choose the government, who protects these rights. In America, the colonies were being ruled by Great Britain and were forced to abide by any laws that they had set into motion for them. Thomas Jefferson took Locke’s ideas and made his own rights, that include, life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, for the people stated in The Declaration of Independance. In Benjamin Franklin’s illustration, “Join or Die,” he is showing that the colonies need to join together in order to beat the King’s rule. If they do not come together, then they will forever be under the rule of an unfair ruler. During the process of completing The Declaration of Independence, a five man committee had to create a formal statement that would include the colonies’ intentions moving forward. These men included, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Benjamin Franklin. There was a lot of talk about changing “Protection of one’s Property” to “The Pursuit of Happiness.” The change helped make it a broader topic to show that American citizens can do what they want in order to make themselves happy. The statement means different …show more content…
If the government becomes an absolute power, then a state of war will break out between the people and their ruler. In the Declaration of Independence, the government is created by the people for the people. This means that citizens will create a government that will protect their unalienable rights. In addition, the only power that the government has is given to them by the citizens in which they are governing. Ultimately, all decisions are made by the people for the greater