In what ways did John Locke influence Thomas Jefferson in writing the Declaration of Independence?

Answer 1

86 years before the Declaration of Independence, John Locke, an Englishman, wrote and extensive rebuttal, The Two Treatises of Government, against a work by Robert Filmer called Patriarcha. Patriarcha is (as you can guess) a promotional essay about Parliament and the King and all things alike. Locke's rebuttal was split up into two parts.

The First Treatise is a sentence-by-sentence bashing of Filmer's ideas.

The Second Treatise explains Locke's philosophies (which should sound familiar). Two examples are:

State of Nature

• Individuals are under no obligation to obey one another but are each themselves judge of what the law of nature requires.

Representative Government

• A legitimate contract between citizens and monarchies or oligarchies could exist

John Locke was the first to suggest the three branches of government which Thomas Jefferson interpreted into the Bill of Rights. John Locke was a huge influence on all of Thomas Jefferson's philsophical thoughts and ideals. If you research anything on Locke, you can see where many of Jefferson's ideas and such came from. I believe the first answer to this question is incorrect, and the second one is very vague. Does anyone have a specific answer to this question, and are there any works by john Locke that i could refer to that would help? John Locke created the Natural Rights of Man, not he three branches of government that was Montesquieu! Thomas paraphases Lockes ideas in the Declaration changing life, liberty, and possecions to life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness. Note: You have a project ont the Enlightenment don't you? I'm in 8th grade and I have one too. Hope I have been of help, I'm just finsihing up a project on this topic too. Sorry if my spelling is bad I'm in a hurry. Constitutional monarchy was his idea and a work you could use is Two Treatise of Government.

Answer 2

His version of the Social Contrac (put forth by Thomas Hobbes) stated that man was essentially good, rather than destructive, and had certain 'natural' rights which should be protected by the government. Among those rights were Life, Liberty, and Property. Because the Founding Fathers felt that the English governmnet (Parliament & King George III) were abusing the colonists, they drafted the Declaration of Independence, which was, for the most part a list of complaints against the Crown justifying the break away from England which had begun the previous year.

Answer 3

john Locke wrote "Two Treatises of Government (available inpaperback reprints). John Locke held that individuals have a right to exist for their own sake, not as a means to the ends of others.

Answer 4

Yes, Jefferson was an avid reader of his work and thinking so when he wrote the Declaration he used Locke's ideas within the document.

Answer 5

they was enlightenment philosopher whose idea.

Answer 6

because they think it will work