The Declaration of Independence
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ration was ‘‘not to find out new principles, or new arguments never before thought of . . . but to place before mankind the common sense of the
subject.’’ Jefferson was, in fact, accused of plagiarizing the views of others. The preamble of the Declaration of Independence bears a striking resemblance, for example, to the first part of the Virginia Bill of Rights,
which George Mason wrote almost a month before the Declaration appeared. John Adams, who wrote the Declaration and Resolves of 1774,
and the Resolution for Independence of May 1776, thought that the
Declaration of Independence was founded on these two documents. On
the other hand, Richard Henry Lee accused Jefferson of copying from
Locke’s Second Treatise, and another charged that he had simply lifted the
wording from one of James Otis’s pamphlets. Jefferson denied that he
had relied on any single book or pamphlet, however, and insisted that
the thoughts contained in the Declaration were derived from his general
reading and knowledge of government and political philosophy. The
Declaration of Independence, he said, ‘‘was intended to be an expression
of the American mind. . . . All its authority rests then on the harmonizing
sentiments of the day, whether expressed in conversations, in letters,
printed essays or in the elementary books of public rights, as Aristotle,
Cicero, Locke, Sidney &c.’’
But this explanation serves only to increase the confusion. Modern
natural rights philosophy, as represented in the writings of Locke, is a rejection of classical political thought and the traditional natural law philosophy. Neither Aristotle nor Cicero subscribed to a natural rights theory, and Aristotle’s teaching on the origin of government is contrary to
Locke’s Second Treatise.
To understand the natural rights philosophy of the Declaration of Independence, it is essential that we pause to compare and contrast it with
the natural law philosophy. We begin with Aristotle. According to Aristotle, man is by nature a political animal. It is his nature to live with others and to establish the family unit. This gives rise to groups of families
and household communities, which unite for mutual protection and to
satisfy human wants and needs. These in turn join together to create the
city-state. This is the origin of