Declaration of Independence
The second continental congress appointed appointed a committee to draft a formal declaration. Thomas Jefferson of Virginia drafted the Declaration of Independence On July 4,1776, the Congress adopted the declaration. The Declaration states that “We hold these truths to be self-evident: That all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; that to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed; that whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it……” The Declaration is a clear explanation of the political theory behind the revolution and this theory came from the British philosopher John Locke.
