1776 - American colonists declare independence from the English crown

        The revolutionary colonists prepare for war against the British crown and send King George III a document inspired by the thoughts and words of another Englishman, 17th century empiricist, John Locke: the Declaration of Independence. 

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  John Locke, the English political theorist who served as the ideological mentor to the Founders of the United States.

      The landmark document enshrined the ideas that all men are created equally in the eyes of the law, and that 'life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness' are the inalienable rights of all men.  Of course, once the United States government was formed under the U.S. Constitution, it would systematically deny those 'inalienable rights' to African Americans, American Indians, Mexican Americans,  nd Asians, for most of the 19th century.

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