Who Inspired Thomas Jefferson?

Voicecast Authored and Read

By Mayasonette Lambkiss,

As an episode of the ‘Spacesuit in the Flesh’ officially published

Podcast show for the Hawaii Institute of Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Honolulu, 12/12/2023

Who was Thomas Jefferson, the author of freedom, inspired by crafting the Declaration of Independence? John Locke, The Virginia Declaration of Rights, and his own drafts of the Virginia Constitution are just some of the contemporary documents he used during his two weeks of writing at his desk. But the material the Founding Fathers, especially Jefferson’s used as discussion materials and insightful guides for the establishment of a just government is much broader: the Founding Fathers looked to the Greek democracy, Roman representative system, the Bible, the French Laissez-fair implemented first in Brittain, they looked to Captains of Christian ships and their courts, chain of command, and communication systems for crowd management insights they used, and to people like the famous Ulysses S. Grand, military officer of the Union army who allowed the Southerners to keep their horses to plough and one personal weapon for hunting for their families.

All of these historical experiments to attempt to create an ideal and just government, and great historical figures, are present in the Declaration of Independence in Spirit. The 28 points at the end of the physical document of the Declaration of Independence demonstrating King George III’s dysfunctional governance is probably the most motivating list of sources inspiring change. These inspirations rooted in painful and liberating experiences gave a reason to our founders wanting to see changes implemented that reflected their values. As Thomas Jefferson writes in 1776, “The Declaration of Independence is a proclamation. In it, the 13 American colonies declared that they would no longer view themselves as members of the British Empire.” But, over time many of its points have changed from a collective statement of the exclusive sovereignty to the United States, to a nation defined by its citizen’s shared value systems. It is majorly due to the evolving philosophical influences in the minds of the people, and how they interpret the words within changing historical-political context relevant to their times.

The second paragraph of the Declaration says:

1) “We hold these truths to be self-evident"

This statement strongly reveals that the source of conviction to establish the values incorporated by the following words of the declaration indisputable truths, automatic, and need no explanation. Here is a paragraph I read for you from the Kirkpatrick Signature Series Document on the Declaration of Human Rights:

“During Jefferson’s era, the European model of governance was monarchies. The authority for government by monarchy was known as, The Divine Right of Kings. In other words, the King’s authority was based upon an authority bestowed upon the monarch by the divine or due to God’s intervention.

Since God had chosen the monarch to be the King, or Queen, they were better, or closer to God, and therefore acting with God-given authority to rule. Simply, according to the Divine Right of Kings. The monarch had more powerful rights than the individual and you were...