in order to justify their radical ideas: the Bible and John Locke. The Bible told stories of an unjust King in Israel and how he was overthrown when he imposed unfair taxes on his people. This allowed the colonists to believe God was on their side, and that he supported what they were doing: rebelling against unjust laws. The colonists also looked to another man for ideas on revolution, an Enlightenment philosopher named John Locke. Ironically enough, Locke, one of the most important men in prompting the Americans to revolt against England, was English himself. An extremely influential man, he argued that humans had “natural rights” to life, liberty, and property. If the government at any point took these natural rights away from the people, it was not only acceptable, but considered the people’s duty to rebel. Traces of Locke’s ideas can still be seen in the Declaration of Independence, which states every man has the natural right to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” The restriction of civil liberties by the British on the Americans was another factor that prompted the revolution in 1776. The glaring example in this case would be the Mutiny (Quartering) Act of 1765. In this act, the colonists were forced to assist in maintaining and providing quarters for the British Army. In modern times, this could be deemed completely unconstitutional; however, there existed no constitution during the times of the Quartering Act. The fact that there was a strong resentment towards the British by the colonists would be an understatement. When they were obliged to live with the people they resented, a spirit of revolution was evoked. There already existed strong feelings of resentment towards England due to the Currency Act of 1764. This unjust act took away the colonial assembly’s ability to issue paper money, as well as to retire all paper money currently in circulation. These revolutionary idea...
