Changing Attitudes Toward Independence (College Board AP® US History)

Timeline

Summary

The colonies had been at war with Great Britain for nearly nine months before many colonists started talking seriously about independence. Their change of position was caused by Thomas Paine’s Common Sense, a pamphlet that argued for independence from Great Britain in simple language.

Like many of the era’s scholars and politicians, Paine was influenced by Enlightenment philosophers, who wrote about natural rights and the social contract. Enlightenment ideas emphasized the power and talents of the average individual over inherited money and wealth. So did the First Great Awakening.

Both movements helped colonial political leaders and their constituents see the value of having a republican government instead of a constitutional monarchy.

Philosophical, Religious, & Political Influences

• Some of the colonists who initially called for colonial independence from Great Britain were influenced by Enlightenment philosophers

Enlightenment Philosophers Who Influenced American Independence

John Locke 

• Locke’s main idea was that humans have rights of life, liberty, and property that cannot be taken from them

• He argued that: 

  • liberty comes through self-rule

  • a government only exists with the consent of the governed

Jeans-Jacques Rousseau

• Rousseau’s main idea was that people are in a social contract with their government

• He argued that:

  • people willingly give up some of their power in exchange for the government’s protection of their natural rights

  • if citizens do not approve of a law, the law cannot be enforced

Baron de Montesquieu, 

• De Montesquieu’s main idea was that

  • government should be separated into three branches so no single branch becomes too powerful

    • The three branches are judicial, legislative, and executive

    • This is the checks and balances system

Enlightenment ideas

• Other Enlightenment ideas included the separation of church and state (government) and reason

  • These Enlightenment ideals pointed toward the importance of a person’s talents and contributions, not their inherited titles, money, or power

The First Great Awakening

• The First Great Awakening also changed the way people thought about the British monarchy’s and Parliament’s role in colonial affairs

  • In the past, only clergy members and monarchs were allowed to interpret God’s will

  • After the First Great Awakening, people realized they could have a personal connection with God. Individuals held the power, not clergy or monarchs

    • This inspired new ways of thinking about freedom and individualism

  • This united people across denominations

    • This helped colonists recognize themselves not only as citizens of their colony, but also as Americans

  • People began believing they had the right to tell their clergy and politicians what they wanted

  • According to Enlightenment philosopher Locke, liberty is a God-given right

• The Enlightenment concept of natural rights and the decreasing belief in the divine right of kings led many colonial political leaders to support a republican form of government in the colonies

Landmark Publications

Common Sense

• Common Sense (January 1776), was written by Thomas Paine. The publication:

  • was written in plain language that even the less educated could understand

  • led to the first public call for independence from Great Britain

  • questioned the legitimacy of British rule

    • Paine used Locke’s philosophy about natural rights

    • He argued that monarchies, including Great Britain’s, violate the laws of nature and religion. If men are all born equal, then no man should be able to call himself king and be above everyone else

    • Paine also pointed out that every king’s rule in the Bible ended in war

  • recommended that the colonies form a democracy and rule themselves

The Declaration of Independence

• The primary creator of the Declaration of Independence was Thomas Jefferson 

  • He borrowed ideas from Locke for the preamble

  • He wrote of the “unalienable Rights... [of] Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness”

  • Locke also said citizens had the right to overthrow a government that was not protecting citizens’ natural rights, an idea that is also included in the preamble

  • Jefferson also referred to Rousseau’s ideas about governments “deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed”

• The Declaration then lists specific grievances against Parliament and King George III, both of whom had violated the colonists’ natural rights

• The document ends with a formal declaration of the colonies’ separation from Great Britain