Whensoever therefore the [government] shall . . . endeavour to grasp themselves, or put into the hands of any other, an absolute power over the lives, liberties, and estates of the people; by this breach of trust they forfeit the power the people had put into their hands.
–Two Treatises of Government,
John Locke
Read the passages from Locke’s Two Treatises of Government and the Declaration of Independence. Then answer the question that follows.
What is the relationship between these two passages?
Locke’s ideas concerning a government’s “breach of trust” helped shape the Declaration of Independence.
Locke’s ideas about the role of church in government were copied into the Declaration of Independence.
The Declaration of Independence convinced Locke to write his treatise.
The Declaration of Independence shaped Locke’s ideas on collective safety.