The Creed of Political Equality involves liberty, egalitarianism, individualism, populism (the rule of the people) and laissez-faire economics. It was one of the novel innovations of the American Revolution.
All these concepts were radical breaks with the European past, where monarchy, aristocracy, and strict control of both individual and economic freedom were the rule. But even in the newly independent United States these ideas were inconsistently practiced, as slaves, Indians, women, and the landless poor were not considered fit to enjoy these benefits. Much of American history has been a struggle to universalise these concepts.
The traditional view of historians is that 18th century colonial America was characterized by widespread deference to English authority and the social hierarchy it transplanted from the mother country. But while this idea explains those Tory colonists who sided with England in the Revolutionary War, it does not explain the ultimate defiance of the rebellion itself.
Obviously it was a widely accepted notion. But recent scholars have pointed out that the egalitarianism of the colonies was fuelled directly by the inequality of American society. Most of the people in the mid-18th century were anything but free, if we include African slaves, Indians, indentured servants, and women. Therefore, according to this argument, it was the severity of the social repression that encouraged defiance, rather than deference.
It was English political philosopher John Locke (1632-1704) who provided the theory of political equality which later became a hallmark of the resistance of the American colonies to the rule of England.á In 1689 his "The Second Treatise on Civil Government" declares "man [is] bornàwith a title to perfect freedom , and an uncontrolled enjoyment of all the rights and privileges of the law of nature, equally with any other man or num
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