The patriots believed that the people of the Thirteen Colonies were entitled to the same natural and unalienable rights as those born in England, and the British Crown denied them their rights and freedoms. The main reason for the Declaration of Independence and the American Revolution was the British refusal to recognize the colonists’ right to life, liberty, and property.
First of all, the colonists fought for their right to life, as outlined early on in the Declaration of Independence. As stated in the document, all people are entitled to “certain unalienable rights,” including, in particular, the right to life (Jefferson 143). This statement is rather self-explanatory: the colonists wanted to live their lives safely and happily, as they saw fit, but the British rule did not always allow them to do so. A clear example of denying this right would be the infamous Boston Massacre when British soldiers used deadly force against the colonists, wen though they belonged to the same nation. Therefore, colonists had every reason to fight for the right to life that their government neglected.
Apart from the right to life, the colonists also had a right to fight for their liberty. This idea has roots in the writing of a famous English philosopher, who stated that people always have the right to “free themselves from the usurpation or tyranny” (Locke). According to John Locke, the government only exists to protect the interests of the people, and if it becomes tyrannical and attempts to suppress the people’s liberties, it has no moral right to power. In such cases, the people may depose their government – with the force of arms, if necessary – and create a better one instead so that their freedoms and liberties would be secured. In this sense, colonists had solid grounds to fight for their right to liberty denied by the British government.
Finally, the colonists also fought for their right to own property. The supreme law of the United States postulates that no one “will be deprived of property” without due process (“Constitution”). This means that the right to private property was very important for the Founding Fathers and their contemporaries. However, the British Government violated this right as well, as in the Quartering Act of 1774, which obliged the colonists to house troops in their own homes. In this situation, the colonists had to fight for their right to use their property as they saw fit rather than surrender it to the government’s every whim.
In conclusion, Britain left the colonists no option but to fight for their rights to life, liberty, and property. The Declaration of Independence listed the right to life as the first of the unalienable ones, but the events like the Boston Massacre proved that the British Crown did not respect it. The right to liberty was also essential for the colonists, and, according to John Locke, they were justified in fighting for it against the unjust government. Additionally, the laws such as the Quartering Act neglected the colonists’ right to property, and they fought to defend and secure it as well and become full masters of their lives, independent and happy.
Works Cited
“Constitution for the United States.” Constitution US, www.constitutionus.com. Accessed 10 Oct. 2020.
Jefferson, Thomas. “Declaration of Independence.” Prentice-Hall Literature: The American Experience, 2nd ed., Prentice-Hall, 1991, pp. 143-147.
Locke, John. “Second Treatise of Government.” Project Gutenberg, 2020. Web.