THE POLISH DEMOCRATIC IDEAS BORN IN 16 / 17 CENTURY AND MATURED ON THE PATH TO THE 3th MAY POLISH CONSTITUTION, LED TO THE BIRTH OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA (Quotes are from the article “History of the 3 May 1791 Polish Constitution” by Marek Zebrowski originally published on the PMC website in April 2008).
“… One of the most influential voices in the debate on responsible governance was Wawrzyniec Goślicki (1533-1607), a Polish diplomat, high church official, Crown Chancellor and philosopher, who was also known as Laurentius Grimaldus Goslicius …”
“… His suggestions that all citizens are born equal, possess equal rights, and that monarchs rule in the interest of their subjects, were seen as pure heresy. …”
“… With the arrival of English Civil War refugees at the Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts in the 1640s, Goślicki’s views reached the American Continent. It would take another century or so for the American Colonists to follow-up on Goślicki’s suggestion of shaking off the tyranny of the monarch in favor of the democratic state, which led to the birth of the United States of America. …”