Answer:
John Locke and Thomas Paine influenced the colonists in that they both shared and advocated the dominant ideas of democracy and liberty that fueled and caused the American Revolution.
Step-by-step explanation:
John Locke was a philosopher who greatly emphasized the “rights of Englishmen.” He claimed that everyone was born with universal rights, life, liberty, and property. These philosophical ideas greatly appealed to the colonists as they felt that they were denied of these basic human rights. The same rights are also brought up in the Declaration of Independence where Jefferson rights that Americans are born with unalienable rights such as life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. This document served as the backbone and starting point of the revolution. Locke also wrote about the idea of a “social contract” between the government and the people. The people were subject under the government who had to help the people live a good life. If the government failed to accomplish them, it should be changed or replaced. The colonists applied this in the sense that the government should be replaced, a fundamental idea during the Revolution.
Thomas Paine wrote a very famous and influential philosophical book entitled “Common Sense.” This book highlighted revolutionary ideals and spurred the colonists to face the facts. The book told the colonists that the British were not a good government to be subject under and that it was time to replace it.
Hope this helped!