(1714–1767), was a German diplomat on assignment to Bern, Switzerland. He was acclaimed for having written The Law of Nations, 1758. This work, especially with its emphasis on liberty, equality of individuals, and the right of nations to defend themselves, significantly impacted the Founding Fathers. The son of a Protestant minister, Vattel’s work drew heavily upon the German philosopher Christian Wolff’s 1749 work by the same title. Vattel implicated that men need to live:
Agreeably to their nature, and in conformity to the views of their common Creator; a law that our own safety, our happiness, our most precious advantages, ought to render sacred to every one of us.546