Thomas Jefferson's Declaration For Independence

In the year of 1776, the Continental Congress called for a committee to write a declaration for independence from Great Britain. The task of drafting this document was given to Thomas Jefferson of Virginia. In his draft, he claims that everyone is equal in God’s eyes and that every human is born with natural rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Furthermore, Jefferson writes that the purpose of a government is to protect these natural rights of the people in exchange for their consent to be governed. But, if the government fails to protect the natural rights of the people, it is the role of the people to alter or abolish the government, and to change or create a government that would protect their safety and happiness. In the declaration, Jefferson states that King George III, the king of Britain, was unfit to be their leader due to how he aimed to set up an absolute tyranny over the colonies along with his lack of regard of the rights of the colonists. To further support his claim, he adds a list of abuses that the king has …show more content…
Furthermore, they decided to revise the declaration Jefferson wrote. Most of the feedback was positive, but most disagreed with one claim. Jefferson stated that George III was taking the right of life and liberty from people by enslaving them, but people thought that it wasn’t the king’s fault for enslaving the Africans, and they also worried that New England Merchants would be offended, due to their involvement in slave trading. So, it was removed.
And finally, on July 4th, the members of the congress lined up, one by one, to sign the finished Declaration of Independence. And doing so, committing an act of treason towards Great