Consent of the Governed
Americans sought to establish that they were "true-born" Englishmen—not merely colonials—with all the rights of Englishmen. The founders of the United States believed that the government of Great Britain should rest on the principle that government depended on the consent of the governed and that any government not based on that consent could be justifiably overthrown and replaced. Where did this idea come from? »
that to secure these ends rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed
