A few hundred years ago, humanity went through a remarkable period of transformation, the Enlightenment. A number of different developments enabled this transformation to take place, and the impact of the Enlightenment has been tremendous. One area where the Enlightenment had particularly strong influence was in political theory. Before the Enlightenment, it was common knowledge that all men were natural slaves. We were slaves to our parents and slaves to our rulers in the same way that we were naturally slaves to God. This ancient doctrine justified the despotic political systems that had existed in one form or another throughout most of history.
The Enlightenment changed this tradition. Enlightenment thinkers began to see the world as dominated by physical forces put in place by a benevolent God. Man became a naturally free and rational creature who can choose his own life. Man has dignity; he is intrinsically and individually valuable. He owns himself and the products of his labor. His rational nature enables him to build a free society where he is not a slave to his rulers. This philosophy, the belief that man has inherent dignity, is now known as Classical Liberalism, and it was the philosophical inspiration for The American Revolution.
Our founding fathers were steeped in the liberal tradition. One classical liberal that was particularly influential to the founding of our country was an Englishman named John Locke (1632-1704). Locke was so influential that Thomas Jefferson listed him as one of the most influential men in his own thinking and was even accused of plagiarizing Locke while writing the Declaration of Independence.
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