How did john lockes philosophy influence the declaration of independance?
Sock’s answer presents a common popularized view of the Declaration – Locke connection, overstated. The ONE clear place Locke plays a role is in the rhetoric of the introductory paragraph . This is not unimportant. BUT if should not be overlooked that the SUBSTANCE of the document –and its “legal” base– is built on OTHER foundations. ALSO, the suggestion that this whole idea of rule other than by “absolute monarch” is somehow new with Locke… is completely mistaken. England’s Constitutional tradition has firmly established that the monarch’s rule was NOT absolute. Note that this is not to say that Locke did not influence the imagination of the founders (which, again, is important), and even some of the rhetoric of the Declaration. But, in fact, there were many other and arguably GREATER influences than Locke, most of them reaching back BEFORE Locke’s writings. For that matter, it is likely that Locke himself was influenced by some of these, so that even where he influenced thinking,
