Documents

The Declaration of Independence was the most important document or lasting image to come from the American Revolution. More and more the colonists felt their human rights were violated, so Thomas Jefferson listed each specific violation . It also described the ways in which the colonists attempted to rectify the issues.

What most stands out in this document in regards to human rights is the beginning of the second paragraph, which explains the colonists' beliefs. The section starts, "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." Jefferson expresses the basic foundation of human rights, which is that all human beings are equal and they are entitled to certain rights.

He goes on to say, "That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness." Here, Jefferson is expressing another widely held human rights belief that the government is supposed to institute and uphold people's rights. If they don't, the people have every right to change the government in order to secure their rights.