Patriots believed in complete independence and were inspired by the ideas of which thinkers?

• A. The Ideas of Locke and Paine and Patrick Henry
• B. The Divine Right of Kings
• C. Mercantilist Economic Theory
• D. The Preservation of Colonial Status

Answer: (A)

The idea being tested is how Enlightenment thinking shaped the Patriots’ push for independence. Thinkers like John Locke argued that people have natural rights to life, liberty, and property and that governments exist to protect these rights; when a government fails to do so, people have the right to change or remove it. Thomas Paine reinforced this with Common Sense, urging that independence from Britain was both natural and necessary and presenting a republic as a legitimate form of government for a free people. Patrick Henry, a Virginia leader, embodied that radical call to liberty and resistance to tyranny in powerful rhetoric, helping to rally colonists to break away from British rule. Together, these ideas provided the philosophical and rhetorical foundation for declaring independence.

Divine Right of Kings promotes obedience to the monarchy, not resistance or independence. Mercantilist theory centers on maximizing a nation’s trade and wealth within the empire, which doesn’t advocate for colonial separation. Keeping the colonies under colonial status directly contradicts the push for independence.

So, the Patriots drew on Locke’s rights and social contract, Paine’s persuasive argument for independence, and Henry’s passionate advocacy to justify and mobilize for a new nation.