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What Is Thomas Jefferson's Response To The Declaration Of Independence

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1. The Declaration of Independence was written by Thomas Jefferson in 1776. The purpose of the declaration was to separate the colonies from Great Britain and to give reason for this severance. The preamble gives the reasons why they must separate themselves and why they cannot tolerate a foreign ruler. Jefferson wrote his first draft of the declaration, and when he showed it to Congress there was an intensive revision process totaling 86 changes, these changes must have been made extremely precisely when you think of the severity of this text. The motive was made because the colonies believed their natural rights were being violated, they claimed that “All men are created equal,” and that their rulers weren’t following that basic principle. Jefferson was assisted by a committee that was appointed by the Continental Congress that consisted of …show more content…

I thought this was surprising because I always imagined Jefferson drafting the first writings by himself for some reason. Jefferson was chosen to be in that committee because he was known by the Continental Congress to have great writing skills and he was very motivated and active in the political revolution. Jefferson’s work is very inspired by John Locke. I believe that when Jefferson was reading Locke’s work, he noticed a stunning similarity between Locke’s views on human nature, and the colonies democratic and equal view of life. The preamble of the constitution directly relates to Locke’s writings on laws and the pursuit of happiness. Also Jefferson very deliberately borrows Thomas Rousseau ideas of a social contract. The Declaration of Independence was written to separate us from Great Britain, but the reasons were less political and more inspired by human will and what is right for all mankind, which is another reason why it is such an influential

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