Two principles from John Locke's social contract theory seen in the excerpt:
<h2>the principle of natural rights</h2><h2>the principle of popular sovereignty</h2>
<u>Natural rights</u>
John Locke was one of the first of the Enlightenment era philosophers. The Enlightenment's emphasis on reason was in contrast to superstition and traditional beliefs. The Scientific Revolution had shown that there are natural laws in place in the physical world and in the universe at large. Applying similar principles to matters like government and society, Enlightenment thinkers believed that using reason will guide us to the best ways to operate politically so we can create the most beneficial conditions for society. For John Locke, this included a conviction that all human beings have certain natural rights which are to be protected and preserved. Locke's ideal was one that promoted individual freedom and equal rights and opportunity for all. Each individual's well-being (life, health, liberty, possessions) should be served by the way government and society are arranged.
The <em>Declaration of Independence</em> states Locke's natural rights idea in this way: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."
John Locke, in his<em> Second Treatise on Civil Government </em>(1690), had expressed those same ideas in these words:
- <em>The state of nature has a law of nature to govern it, which obliges every one: and reason, which is that law, teaches all mankind, who will but consult it, that being all equal and independent, no one ought to harm another in his life, health, liberty, or possessions… (and) when his own preservation comes not in competition, ought he, as much as he can, to preserve the rest of mankind, and may not, unless it be to do justice on an offender, take away, or impair the life, or what tends to the preservation of the life, the liberty, health, limb, or goods of another.</em>
<u>Popular sovereignty</u>
"Popular sovereignty" means the people are in charge of establishing a government over themselves. The founding fathers of the United States adopted the idea of popular sovereignty from Enlightenment philosophers like John Locke.
The <em>Declaration of Independence </em>asserted the concept of popular sovereignty. In the portion quoted in the question, the idea is emphasized in the words, "To secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. ... Whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness."
In writing the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson went on to list "facts to be submitted to a candid world," demonstrating that the British king had been seeking to establish "an absolute Tyranny over these States" (the colonial states which were declaring their independence). Employing the social contract theory of John Locke that gave the people sovereignty, revolution was justified if it could be shown that the British government was acting in tyrannical ways toward the people of the colonies.
