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John Locke
"Locke criticized absolute monarchy and favored the idea of self-government. According to Locke, all people are born free and equal, with three natural rights--- life, liberty, and property. The purpose of government, said Locke, is to protect these rights" (Black and Beck). Samuel Adams had studied his writing during college which helped him when he was going to get into politics. Locke is a good example of showing the rights a person should have. -
Montesquieu
"Montesquieu proposed that separation of powers would keep any
individual or group from gaining total control of the government. 'Power,' he wrote, 'should be a check to power.' Each branch of government would serve as a check on the other two. This idea later would be called “checks and balances.' "(Black and Beck 553). Like many other philosophers, he believed that there should be different branches of government making sure that not one person takes control. -
Rousseau
"Rousseau believed that the only good government was one that was freely formed by the people and guided by the 'general will' of society—a direct democracy. " (Black and Beck 554). Rousseau believed that a social contract should be an agreement among free individuals to create a society and a government instead of an agreement between society and the government. During the Townshend acts, his ideas should have been used because the British were not allowing the Americans to choose. -
Townshend Acts
"The Townshend Acts were a series of measures, passed by the British Parliament in 1767, that taxed goods imported to the American colonies" (History.com). The American colonists saw these acts as an abuse of power. British troops were sent to America to enforce the new tax laws which raised tensions between Great Britain and America. John Locke gives the idea that if the government does not protect the people's rights, they can overthrow it. This is an example of how... -
Townshend Acts 2
... the people's rights are not being protected because the British created a new laws without the American colonists approval. -
Boston Massacre
A riot broke out on King Street in Boston, known as the Boston Massacre. It started when American colonists and a British soldier began to fight. It quickly turned into a "bloody slaughter" which "paved a way to the American revolution" (history.com). -
Samuel Adams and the Deceleration of Independence
"Samuel Adams was a Founding Father of the United States and a political theorist who protested British taxation without representation, uniting the American colonies in the fight for independence during the Revolutionary War" (History.com). Samuel studied some of the writings of John Locke in college. He had a true passion for politics Some of his ideas led to the writing of the Deceleration of Independence and America's independence from Great Britain. -
Work Cited
“American Revolution.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 21 Aug. 2018, www.history.com/topics/american-revolution.
