The Declaration of Independence and John Locke's Political Views

This article explores the connection between the Declaration of Independence and John Locke's political views on natural law and social contract theory. It discusses the relevance of freedom and the desire for economic independence in both contexts.

Running head: THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE
THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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There is an inextricable link vis-à-vis the Declaration of Independence of 1776, and the
political views of John Locke as expressed in his Social Contract Theory and in his views on
Natural Law and Political Theory, with regard to the legitimacy of a government and its
accountability to the governed (Locke, 1988). The assertion of the rights of the American
citizens to be free of the domination of the Colonial Government and take the helm of affairs by
themselves, and John Locke considering the right to acquire property as a fundamental right of
the people of England, as a matter of right which has been endowed by the Almighty God is
what accounts for the basic and the fundamental connection between the philosopher and the
document (Jefferson, 2014).
Both the thinker and the document deals with the aspect of the reorganization of the
nation state. Locke had propounded for the reorganization of a Laissez Faire state which shall not
be imposing any restriction on the profit maximization pursuit of the emerging bourgeoisies. On
the other hand it was a panel of five members, Jefferson, Franklin, Adams, Sherman and
Livingston who had articulated their interest of leading the affairs of the American Nation
without the domination of Britain. America was a colony and by virtue of it she had to face quite
a lot of economic exploitation by Britain, which was why the American Declaration of
Independence was proclaimed in 1776 (Jefferson, 2014).
It was in 1689 when John Locke had composed the Social Contract Theory, incorporating
the element of Natural Law, exemplifying his political theory. At that point of time in England,
the middle class, or the mercantilist class was rising and it was also the time period when the
state of economy was gradually undergoing a transformation. The economy was undergoing a
paradigmatic shift from pastoral mode of production to a capitalistic mode of production.
Renaissance had already opened up avenues for conducting trade by the discovery of new lands

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and the new sea routes thereby encouraging the proliferation of the trading activities. The feudal
society was at its decline and the bargaining power of the emerging mercantilists had increased
which made them assert their freedom. John Locke had championed the rights of the emerging
mercantilists by saying that freedom to pursue profits is a gift of the God and utilization of the
resources of the nature for maximization of profit is a virtue as per the wish of God himself. The
monarch impeding the process by imposition of arbitrary taxation is against the wish of the God,
and also against the ideal that man is born free and the equal opportunity to pursues one’s
economic interests rests with all. Hence Locke had mentioned of a social contract which sought
to elect a government democratically and overthrow it if that turns tyrannical (Locke, 1988).
In the 1776, the same aspect of freedom to lead a life free from bondage and domination
and the elevation of it as a virtue of the God was echoed in the Declaration of Independence at
the turn of a century, in the continent of North America. The American nation had been in the
year 1609, and by the 18th century, the sentiment that freedom is a gift of God endowed in equal
proportions to each human being, and its contingency on a human element depriving one from
exercizing the divine privilege is unjust, had grown potent. Thus, the Americans had sought to
declare independence from England. The document of the Declaration of Independence of 1776
is but a prototype of the Lockeian Social Contract whereby the people had democratically sought
to overthrow the Colonial rule and make way for an independent nation (Jefferson, 2014).
Thus the relevance of freedom and the desire to take charge of economic affairs without
interference had been significant in both the historical and cultural context thereby causing a
similarity between Locke’s Social Contract and the Declaration of Independence.

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References
Jefferson, T. (2014). The declaration of independence (1776). Spark Publishing.
Locke, J. (1988). Locke: Two treatises of government student edition. Cambridge University
Press.