.
The concept of democracy continued to be prevalent in Europe with the philosophies of an English philosopher by the name of John Locke and a French philosopher named Jean Jacques Rousseau. Locke's book, Two Treatises (published in 1690), stated that under the "social contract," the government's job was to protect "natural rights", which included "the right to life, liberty, and the ownership of property." Rousseau expanded on this idea with his book, The Social Contract, in 1762. In essence, these two philosophers said that the people should have input on how their government is run. This school of thought paved the way for modern day American Democracy (Lefebvre).
The American Revolution is another important event in the history of democracy. The first step, of course, in America's pursuit of democracy was the Declaration of Independence in 1776. In this great document, written by Thomas Jefferson, many ideas are taken from the aforementioned philosophers, Locke and Rousseau. From Locke, .
Jefferson borrowed the idea that all men are created .
equal, and he altered the right to life, liberty and .
property to "the right to life, liberty and the pursuit .
of happiness." Jefferson borrowed a little from Rousseau.
as well when he said that all men should have the right.
to take up arms against the government if it did not .
respect these rights (Jefferson).
In the French Revolution, a similar cause was .
espoused. Political thinkers and philosophers such as .
Montesquieu, Voltaire, and Rousseau inspired the people by building off of American ideas and insisting that freedom comes only after the legislative, judicial and executive branches of the government are separated. The people of France overthrew the king, then set forth the "Declaration of the Rights of Man," which changed Locke's right to life, liberty and property to the right to "liberty, property, security, and resistance to oppression." (The resistance of oppression probably came from Rousseau.