Declaration of Independence
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“We hold these Truths to be self — evident, that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.” — Declaration of Independence
Even before the Continental Congress declared independence, most colonies along with some towns, counties, and even private organizations had issued their own declarations. In most cases, these statements detailed British abuses or power and demanded the right of self-government.
On June 8, 1776, the Continental Congress voted to write a declaration of independence and quickly appointed a committee to draft a formal document. But the job of actually writing the draft fell to Thomas Jefferson, mainly because John Adams and other committee members were busy trying to manage to rapidly escalating war with England.
Jefferson completed his draft of the declaration in a few days. He argued in his opening two paragraphs that people had the right to overthrow their government when it abused their fundamental natural rights over a long period of time. Then in a direct attack on King George, Jefferson listed twenty instances when the King violated the rights of the American colonists. Jefferson ended his draft by stating, “We do assert and declare these colonies to be free and independent statesвЂ¦Ð²Ð‚Ñœ
When Jefferson submitted his draft to the Congress on June 28, the delegates spent little time on his opening paragraphs, which today are the most famous part of the Declaration of Independence. The members of the Continental Congress made only two minor changes in the opening paragraphs of Jefferson’s draft of declaration. In these two paragraphs, Jefferson developed some key ideas: “all men are created equal,” “inalienable rights,” “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” Where did Jefferson get these ideas?
Jefferson was a man of enlightenment. He expressed the prevailing sentiments of the colonists’ belief in natural rights of man. This was the period during the 17th and 18th centuries when thinkers turned to reason and science to explain both the physical universe and human behavior. Those like Jefferson thought that by discovering the “laws of nature” humanity could be improved.
The Declaration’s recognition of the existence of inalienable rights was a controversial position at that time. Most thought that rights were granted by governments to citizens. According to the concept of natural rights, however, certain rights do not depend upon law or institutions, but originate in the substance of humanity itself.
In proclaiming the first of these natural rights, the right to life itself, the Declaration asserts that basic right to security from forces which inhibit ones self — preservation. The right to liberty guarantees the property conditions or circumstances favorable to carrying out the choices made. The pursuit of happiness refers to the help organized society gives to make a good life possible.
Most scholars today believe that Jefferson derived the most famous ideas in the Declaration of Independence from the writings of English philosopher John Locke. Locke wrote that all individuals are equal in the sense that they are born with certain “inalienable” natural rights. That is, rights that are God-given and can never be taken away.
Among these fundamental natural rights, Locke said, are “life, liberty, and property.”