Final answer:
The ideas of individual freedom and representative government were established to a significant extent in colonial society before the American Revolution.
Step-by-step explanation:
The ideas of individual freedom and representative government were established to a significant extent in colonial society before the American Revolution. One major influence was the political thinker John Locke, whose ideas on natural rights influenced American beliefs about government.
The colonies also had a tradition of self-government, with established legislatures that allowed men to make laws for their fellow colonists. When this tradition was threatened by the actions of Parliament and the King, it sparked the American Revolution.