What theories concerning government formed the basis for the Declaration of Independence?

By the summer of 1776 many influential Americans were prepared to end all connections with Great Britain. The Continental Congress appointed Thomas Jefferson of Virginia to write a document announcing and explaining why Americans no longer considered themselves part of the British Empire. Jefferson wrote most of the Declaration of Independence, although other members of Congress made several changes to his original draft. The 4th of July, when Congress formally adopted the Declaration, marks the official beginning of American independence.

The Declaration of Independence contains three main sections. First, its Preamble states the major philosophical and political disputes that have separated Americans from Great Britain. According to the Declaration, "all men are created equal and are endowed by the Creator with certain unalienable rights," including "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." People devise governments to protect these rights. In Jefferson's words, a government's power and legitimacy can only come "from the consent of the governed." When governments fail to protect citizens' rights, citizens are justified in defying their government and creating a new one.

In the second section of the Declaration, Jefferson observed that Americans ought to explain why they believed the British government had not protected their rights. He listed dozens of complaints against King George III, blaming him for interfering in colonists' governments, destroying the American economy to benefit Britain, and depriving Americans of nearly all the freedoms that British subjects enjoyed. In the third, concluding section of the Declaration, Jefferson announced that the American colonies were "Free and Independent States," which were no longer part of the British Empire, but would now govern themselves.