Thomas Jefferson and Plato's Utopia

Essay by kookookrnboiHigh School, 11th grade November 2004

download word file, 2 pages 5.0

As Thomas Jefferson wrote the masterpiece called the Declaration of Independence, this magnificent work carries many details from Plato's Noble Lie, which is another famous writing piece.

When Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence he wrote whatever was best for the country and Plato was a great start to begin with. Plato's view of human nature, especially from the Noble Lie excerpt, made the Declaration of Independence, a powerful and moving document that represents the freedom of the people.

The Declaration of Independence was first created to show that the British Colonies are now independent from Britain. The people in the British Colonies saw that they were treated as inferior people. Britain issued many laws that suppressed the British Colonies from their full potential. Laws such as the Intolerable Acts and the Stamp Act made many colonists furious and demanded that the laws repealed. When enough was enough, Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence and declared that these colonies are governed by the people, for the people, and by the people.

What this document is known for is that the people living in this country are entitles to "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." The people are given natural rights that all humans were born with. Also, whenever the government is too inefficient or not in the direction of the people, the people have the right to abolish that government. Many governments today still would not let the people decide what the people can do and Thomas Jefferson wanted to change all that in 1776.

Plato argues in the Republic that in order to build a proper Utopia, it will be necessary to depict the gods as virtuous, regardless of what Homer and other authors may actually have written about them. Hence censorship and deception were...