The Declaration of Independence is the basis of our government here in the United States. When the authors of this document were writing it they included many references to enlightenment theories. Of these many theories three within the document can be attributed to John Locke, Jean Jacques Rousseau, and Thomas Hobbes.
John Locke was a believer in the three natural rights of man, life, liberty, and property. In the Declaration of Independence Locke's idea can be found throughout but one example is, "...It is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government…
