John Milton's Declaration Of Independence

John Milton was a literary revolutionary for his time; ideas we now consider commonplace were proposed by Milton within his writings. Milton’s ideas were radical and controversial for his time. Within his many of his writings Milton advocated that the individual not the Church should interpret the Bible along with stating that the government had no reason to interfere with the religious worship of its people along with the idea that rulers should be held accountable for their actions and that the law was above them. However, Milton’s foremost idea of liberty and freedom of the press is one that our country itself was based upon and is enumerated in his famous speech “Areopagitica” (Norton 786). It should be noted that we commonly lose sight
Milton’s speech told of new revelations, not commonplace in his time as he argued for the establishment of freedom of the press and intellectual liberty, concepts which many opposed. In “Areopagitica”, Milton stringently opposed the Parliament’s ability to regulate the press through pre-publication licensing which restricted authors from publishing their works unless they obtained official approval from the government. While Milton no doubt had his own reasons for desiring the abolishment of censorship, “Areopagitica” served as a land mark argument against censorship and the problems associated with it. In fact Milton was vehemently opposed to censorship because of his controversial stance on divorce. Milton married at age thirty-four to Mary Powell who was at the time seventeen years old (Norton 770). From the outset the relationship was plagued with turmoil though there was a brief reconciliation which was due to the birth of their daughter. The relationship however did not improve and Mary eventually passed in 1652 (Norton 770). Milton’s unfulfilling marriage eventually lead to his writing of “Areopagitica” which expressed his strong desires to enact legal changes with Parliament and the clergy to accept divorce as a viable means to escape an incompatible marital situation. Nonetheless, even though Milton’s argument on social change may have been to directly support his desires “Areopagitica” had a direct effect on the construction of our country. The concepts of liberty and intellectual freedom expressed within Milton’s “Areopagitica” were the “fabulous dragon’s teeth springing up armed men” that aided in the formation of America (787). Initially John Milton’s literary objective was for the British Parliament to recognize the liberties of a free and open British society. In specific the rights to