"Men being, as has been said, by Nature, all free, equal and independent, no one can be put out of this Estate, and subjected to the Political Power of another, without his own Consent. The only way whereby any one divests himself of his Natural Liberty, and puts on the bonds of Civil Society is by agreeing with other Men to join and unite into a Community. . . "
England looked up from his paperwork, blinking a couple of times. "…I beg your pardon?"
"Here," America handed over the papers he had been reading from. He looked on impatiently as the older blond glanced over the words, brow crinkling ever so slightly.
"John Locke…" England frowned, handing the paper back to his charge. "Where did you come across this?"
"Everyone's reading it," America crossed his arms over his chest, a slightly defensive tone edging its way into his reply. But then he paused, uncertainty mixed with a faint trace of determination flitting across his face. "I'm not quite sure I understand it though…"
A bit of silence. The older Nation waited expectantly for the younger to continue.
"From what I get…" the blue-eyed one began hesitantly, "It's saying people are free, and don't have to follow the rules. That people should only have to listen to the rules they decide on…with other people..."
"Rubbish," England dismissed, scoffing slightly. At America's offended expression, he relented a bit. "You…you are interpreting it correctly. But the whole idea is a load of bollocks. Nothing for you to concern yourself with."
"But I think it's interesting!" the boy persisted, clenching the document in his hand. "It makes sense, that people should be able to decide things for themselves, that people should—"
"America," England warned, sending him a stern look. "That's enough, you have more important things to be working on. Like your Maths."
"But, I—"
"Maths, now," the European cut in, before returning his attention to his work.
Pouting, America left the room. He would go ask one of the people in town what they thought. They would explain it to him, even if England wouldn't.
After all, he was just curious. What was the big deal about a stupid paper, anyway? England was usually pretty lenient, and very rarely declined to answer his inquires, however ridiculous.
This realization only intensified the boy's interest. What could the document possibly be detailing that England wouldn't want him to know about? He moved into a mild sprint, eager to find out.
Historical Notes: In the 1740s, the Enlightenment (a philosophical movement of the 18th century, characterized by belief in the power of human reason and by innovations in political, religious, and educational doctrine) came to the Americas from Europe. In Europe, discussion of new radical political ideals was limited more or less to the upper class, but in America it was a pretty commonplace topic for all people. This was partly an effect of the Great Awakening, a religious movement prior to this all that I didn't know how to include ^^' But I digress.
John Locke was an English philosopher, whose writings, particularly the Two Treatises of Government (1689), influenced the American Revolution, which we will be getting into shortly. He believed government was an institution meant to civilly resolve conflicts, and strongly believed in governmental separation of powers. He thought Revolution was not only justified, but necessary in certain situations.
He also believed the human mind starts off as a "blank slate", and thus we are very heavily influenced by our surroundings. Which really isn't relevant, but cool little tidbit, yes?
We'll be getting into this more soon, but Americans were very independent. They were used to being in control of their own governments more or less, with their town councils and only minimal British interference (appointing some officials, etc.). So when Britain started asserting its authority more later on, after being rather laid back and out of their business for awhile...they didn't like that. But, again, more later...not quite there yet.