How did social-contract ideas influence the American and French revolutions?

Social-contract theory provided the intellectual framework for the American and French revolutions by challenging the legitimacy of absolute rule and asserting that government authority derives from the consent of the governed.12

Influence on the American Revolution

John Locke’s version of the social contract was foundational to the American cause. He argued that individuals possess natural rights to life, liberty, and property, and that governments are formed solely to protect these rights. If a government fails in this duty, the people have a moral right to revolt. Thomas Jefferson drew directly from these principles in the Declaration of Independence, asserting that governments derive their "just powers from the consent of the governed" and that citizens may alter or abolish destructive regimes.321

Influence on the French Revolution

In France, the works of Jean-Jacques Rousseau were particularly influential. Rousseau’s The Social Contract argued that legitimate sovereignty resides in the "general will" of the people rather than in a monarch. This challenged the divine right of kings and inspired revolutionaries to seek a society based on equality and popular participation. These ideas were codified in the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, which proclaimed that the aim of political association is the preservation of natural rights.5413