with the Declaration of Independence and one of its primary influences, the theories of British political philosopher John Locke, the idea itself comes from medieval political theory. As beings created in the image of God, humans have a number of natural rights that the state itself cannot violate. As we have seen, they include the right to property. The right to life is also assumed, and there are some tentative moves toward a limited idea of liberty — mostly in the form of limitations on the jurisdiction of civil and ecclesiastical government, so that the “liberties” of different groups are
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