The article, using the example of two interrelated categories ‘independence’ and ‘service’, which have been constantly present in the domestic spiritual and political discourse for several centuries, traces the process of transformation of the value foundations of Russian civilization in the spiritual and political thought of the 18th century. Analysis of the works by the authors of the 18th century was carried out on the basis of the search database of the National Corpus of the Russian Language. In total more than 600 texts created in 1701–1800 were studied. The main research methods in addition to the general scientific methodological apparatus were content analysis and political-textual analysis. The concepts of ‘independence’ and ‘service’ in the 18th century were largely linked. The concept of ‘independence’ was using in the literature of this period in two meanings: ‘state independence’ (state sovereignty) and ‘personal independence’ (private sovereignty). Personal independence had to be sacrificed by the subjects of the Russian sovereign in favor of state sovereignty. This sacrifice was most often justified by the need for each resident of Russia to serve the sovereign, the state and the Fatherland.