Sources and Importance of the Idea of Natural Rights in the “Boston Pamphlet”

Abstract

For many centuries, the idea of natural rights has been one of the most important philosophical and legal concepts. Its importance results not only from the importance of the postulates but also, and perhaps above all, because it played a role in the course of changes taking place in modern times. The Boston Pamphlet is one of the first documents issued on the American continent in which revolutionary theses, in particular regarding relations with Great Britain, were formulated in the language of natural rights. The purpose of the article is to analyze the idea of the inalienable rights of the individual, which was expressed in this document. It was indicated that the revolutionary postulates of the authors of the document found as justification and intellectual foundation in a specific vision of inalienable individual rights (and more precisely in the vision proposed by John Locke). The analysis was preceded by a reference to the so-called English liberties, which allowed to place the Pamphlet and the idea of natural rights in a broader context. Attention was also drawn to the fact that although the concept of the inalienable rights of the individual was visible in earlier writings, it was brought to the fore only on the eve of the revolution. The analysis of the concept expressed in the document required the disclosure of those aspects of Locke’s doctrine that played a key role or were even transferred entirely to the content of the document.