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The Influence of John Locke On the Declaration of Independence To stop short of simply disregarding the speculation of other parties, John Locke is not the only man that has been cited as the primary voice of reason that guided Thomas Jefferson as he wrote the Declaration of Independence for the blossoming United States. There is a relatively well established alternate theory that it is actually Leibniz who is behind that voice of reason, and that it is ridiculous to think that Locke would have been Jefferson’s intellectual fuel because Locke was, in fact, deeply loyal to England. These different views seem to be settled in their places well, each on its own side of the thin party-line of modern politics. First of all, Locke’s support would not have been necessary in order for the American colonies to cite his work in making their case against the Crown. (In fact, in a way, Locke’s disapproval of the American stance could have served the Declaration well, provided that Locke’s principles and ideas held with a strong footing before the masses and their thoughts.) Secondly, Leibniz was not particularly as rele