When the leaders of the American Revolution began their journey to independence, they rebelled against the increasingly totalitarian monarchy of King George III. Representatives from all the colonies met numerous times to discuss the intrusive and burdensome policies implemented by the British government and to combine their efforts to have the government address their grievances. After numerous overtures were rejected by the British government, the colonial leadership embarked on a path of open defiance against a government they believed no longer had the right to rule. In this struggle the founders of the United States answered the important generational question: “Should we consent to be governed?” Their answer as to what roles and methods of government that allow for social consensus on government are contained in the United States Constitution. However, since its adoption, each new generation has faced this question with different answers that have expanded civil liberties to previously persecuted minority groups. By expanding civil liberties and equal rights for all individuals, citizens and immigrants of the United States should consent to be governed, but only to the extent that the government applies the laws equally to all people within its jurisdiction and continues to primarily defend the rights of the individual, and only violates the individual's freedom to protect the rights of others. The ideological intent of government is an important aspect of whether or not groups of people living under the control of a sovereign state should consent to be governed. Since governments and social organizations are inherently imperfect, any precondition that states that all laws must be written down on paper…k. Each generation debates the extent to which government should be able to limit freedoms to protect the rights of others. Although the amount of government restrictions that encroach on individual rights will never reach consensus, people should consent to be governed as long as government institutions focus primarily on the ideological protection of personal liberties and only intrude on individual rights to protect the rights of others. others. Works CitedSmith, Adam. The wealth of nations. Hanover College Online, 1776. http://history.hanover.edu/courses/excerpts/111smith.html. Electronic. 4/1/2012.Hardin, Garrett. The tragedy of the commons. Garret Hardin Society, 1968. Electronic. 4/1/2012.King Jr., Martin Luther. University of Pennsylvania Center for African Studies. http://www.africa.upenn.edu/Articles_Gen/Letter_Birmingham.html, 1963. Electronics. 1/4/2012.