Thomas Jefferson's Declaration of Independence is a representative piece of Enlightenment writing that demonstrates the great influence that the work of John Locke must have had on him. Jefferson adapted Locke's concept of an inherent "contract" between the rulers and the ruled, explaining how rulers only rule through the consent of the governed. This means that they enjoy the "right" to change the terms of this contract. He used this idea of a contract to justify the revolt against King George III and the formation of an independent confederation of former colonies that became the United States. He further elaborated that slavery was either a violation of "natural rights," possible only through the consent of the enslaved, or through a continuous state of "war" between ruler and ruled.[1] Jefferson does not refer to slavery explicitly but his acquisition and adaptation of another concept of Locke's demonstrates that slavery must have been on his mind.
             Perhaps the most famous phrase of all in this Declaration is that "all men are created equal and that they are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable Rights; that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."[2] This phrase reflects the ideas within Locke's Second Treatise of Government that there are certain "natural rights" that all people possess. Locke, however, conceived and defined these rights differently from the way Jefferson did. For Locke the "natural rights" were for "life, liberty and property." It is very possible that it was because of the existence of slavery that Jefferson changed the last idea. Tied up within the notion of slavery in the United States was the notion of property since slaves (human beings) were considered property in the United States (and in Jefferson's own Virginia and on his very own plantation).
             Jefferson's use...