Friday, September 18, 2009

Thomas Jefferson, Plagiarizes John Locke?

Thomas Jefferson, the author of the Declaration of Independence, looked at John Locke before he wrote the Declaration of Independence. In the Beginning of the Declaration, Thomas Jefferson says that "Men are endowed with creation unalienable rights; these are among Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. In John Locke’s Second Treatise of Civil Government, He says that a man is endowed to Life, Liberty, and Property. Thomas Jefferson took these ideas from John Locke and reformed them to be used in his own purpose.

In a sense, Thomas Jefferson also took the idea of letting the people run the society. John Locke says that everyone in the society helps the society out. This allows for the people to rule, not the government. But, Thomas Jefferson’s thinking of the government, is that the people rule, but elect certain officials to govern for them. They choose these officials by voting and they speak for the people. Thomas Jefferson obviously looked at John Locke’s writings, along with other earlier political thinkers.

1 comment:

  1. So you think Thomas Jefferson remixed John Locke? Well so do I. You delineated your ideas nicely but it was spoiled by misquotes from the declaration. The writing is a bit rough in places also. A good re-write would have made this an excellent piece.

    13/15

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