The Declaration of Independence

The Declaration of Independence is both a legal document and a philosophical treatise. It has the structure of a government document but uses philosophy to underpin its political purpose. It is organized around two premises: that a government derives its power from the people and that the people can, therefore, dissolve the government and form a new one if it fails to protect the people’s rights. Jefferson first argues the undeniability of the first premise and then goes into extensive detail to prove the second. With both premises proven, the document reaches its conclusion: The people of the colonies are forming a new government. The three sections of the text (preamble, list of grievances, and conclusion) each use slightly different devices and ideas that are worth looking at closely.

The first section, the preamble, is primarily a philosophical treatise. Jefferson was an avid reader of political philosophy, and he was well versed in the dominant ideas of the Enlightenment. Principal among his influences were the writings of Locke. Locke believed in the social contract theory, which states that people give up some rights to join a civil society in exchange for protection and benefits. To Locke, a government is legitimate only if its subjects consent to the government’s power.