Two Treatises of Government

The argument the Declaration is built on, nearly sentence for sentence. Government rests on the consent of the governed. People carry natural rights into society rather than receiving them from a ruler. And a government that breaks its trust may rightly be replaced. When Jefferson reached for the words that would justify a revolution, he reached for Locke. Read the Second Treatise and you are reading the foundation poured before the American house was framed.

The philosopher whose sentences the American founders nearly copied. He argued that government rests on the consent of the governed, that people carry natural rights into society rather than receiving them from a ruler, and that a government which breaks its trust may be replaced. The Second Treatise is the scaffolding under the Declaration of Independence. When Jefferson wrote of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, he was writing in Locke's hand.