Locke, in his Second Treatise of Government, described what a government should and should not be, and strongly insisted that government exists as one of the basic institutions in the world of human affairs, meant to pr

Jefferson’s theory of revolution followed less form Hobbes, but did not ignore some of Hobbes’s ideas of the basic natural law. Hobbes believed “...the most pervasive right, or liberty, is that of self-preservation; a person may do whatsoever needs to be done to save his life and to procure the means to live” (Source Reader 104). Although Hobbes was speaking of English citizens’ right (and duty) to accept the rule of the monarchy and restore its power after the Puritans’ beheading of Charles I in 1641, the theory of government he was hinting at was not lost on Jefferson. Jefferson’s theory could follow from Hobbes’ in that the Declaration of Independence was necessary to continue to live once again in accordance with the natural law, by procuring Americans’ God-given right to pursue happiness and to revolt against the entity which prohibited freedom of the people. Jefferson put a slight spin on Hobbes’s idea of government by using a different meaning to the words “liberty” and “freedom” by using them to justify revolution, and not settle one as Hobbes was attempting to do.

Jefferson’s theory of revolution follows closely from Locke’s notion that a commonly-agreed upon political system which failed in its duty to uphold, preserve and protect its citizens’ natural rights, should be replaced

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