Political philosophers John Locke, Baron de Montesquieu, and Jean- Jacques Rousseau all
had a substantial influence on some of America’s greatest and most sacred documents
including The Virginia Declaration of Rights, The Declaration of Independence, and of course
Thomas Paine’s Common Sense. Through Locke’s The Second Treatise, Montesquieu’s The
Spirit of the Laws, and Rousseau’s The Social Contract, these political scientists helped initiate
a political revolution that would rely on those three creations to manifest a blueprint for many of
the principles that embody the United States of America.
The first political thinker to start the American Revolution was none other than John Locke.
The Second Treatise, written in 1690, was a direct justification and defense of the Glorious
Revolution that swept Britain, in which King James II was removed from his power, and was
replaced by King William. He explains in his writing how the previous monarchy (King James II)
could not protect his people’s natural rights. These natural rights, which follow under
