Declaration of Independence and Thomas Jefferson

Author: david dagan
Declaration of Independence (July 4, 1776)
The United States Declaration of Independence, written byThomas Jefferson, was adopted by the Continental Congress in Philadelphia on July 4, 1776. The Declaration stated that the Thirteen Colonies in North America were 'Free and Independent States' and that 'all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved.'
It consists of four main parts:  (1) justification of the Declaration and presentation of the Congress intention to adopt the Declaration. (2) consice explanation of the foundations for the new government - the political philosophy at the time. (3) A bill of particulars documenting the king\'s 'repeated injuries and usurpations' of the Americans\' rights and liberties.
(4) the independence decision and signatures of the assemblies.
The main ideas were taken from John Lock and articulated by Thomas Jefferson. The revolutionary part of the Declaration is the attempt to establish the Age of Enlightenment ideas as the states foundation.  Its historic importance is a result of the fact that most of its readers accepted it as the credo of American democracy. Its universal importance is because it states the rights of humans in general, and not just Americans. 
  

Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson was the third President of the United States (1801–1809). Jefferson\'s vast contribution to the American political philosophy was in subjects such as natural rights, morality and freedom, minorities rights, equality, separation of church and state, education and more. He believed that the government main goal is to protect the citizen\'s rights and social welfare, and that society\'s happiness is a cornerstone for every regular procedure. According to Jefferson, even proprietary rights are secondary to society\'s welfare. He also believed that the federal government\'s sovereignty and jurisdiction should be limited, but he understood that only a strong federal government can fix falsification caused by capitalization in America.  Jefferson\'s anti-federal approach was that each state should have a strong government, contrary to Hamilton\'s approach who supported the idea of a strong federal government with vast jurisdiction. Jefferson argued that according to the Tent
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