AP U.S. GOVERNMENT & POLITICS · FOUNDATIONAL DOCUMENT
The Declaration of Independence: Rights, Revolution, and Borrowed Ideas
Where does legitimate government get its authority, and when can the people replace it?
Read the Declaration of Independence, then open the sections below. Focus on explaining the argument, connecting evidence to AP concepts, and distinguishing historical facts from interpretations.
AP priority: Explain natural rights, social contract theory, popular sovereignty, and limited government. The authorship investigation extends those ideas through source analysis. Practice explanations expand when clicked; responses are not recorded.
Part 1 · Understand the Document
1. Who wrote it, when, and for whom?
Principal drafter: Thomas Jefferson. The Committee of Five also included John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert R. Livingston. Adams, Franklin, and Congress revised the text. The final Declaration was a collective political act, not simply Jefferson’s private essay.
Dates: Congress voted for independence on July 2, 1776, and adopted the Declaration’s text on July 4. The war had already begun in 1775.
Purpose and audience: Explain and justify separation from Britain to colonists, British readers, and the wider world, including potential foreign supporters.
Read critically: The grievances present the colonists’ case against the king. They are evidence of the authors’ argument, not a neutral account of every dispute.
2. Follow the argument from principles to independence
- Introduction: A people separating from another should explain its reasons.
- Principles: People possess rights; governments exist to protect them and obtain legitimate authority from the governed.
- Standard for resistance: A persistent pattern of serious abuses can justify changing or abolishing a government. Ordinary frustrations are insufficient.
- Evidence: The grievances allege that the king repeatedly violated these principles. The text also describes failed petitions and appeals.
- Conclusion: The colonies declare themselves independent states, claiming powers such as making war, peace, alliances, and trade.
The reasoning: Government must protect rights → the authors argue that British rule repeatedly violated rights → they claim separation and a new government are justified.
AP move: Explain how a grievance supports the conclusion. Do not treat the famous opening and the complaints as unrelated sections.
Part 2 · Know the AP Concepts
| Concept | Meaning and connection |
|---|---|
| Natural rights | Rights belong to people by nature, rather than as gifts from rulers. The Declaration identifies life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Government should secure rights, not claim to be their original source. |
| Social contract | People form a political community and accept common rules and limits on some freedoms for social order and protection. In the Declaration’s reasoning, government holds authority to protect rights; a sustained betrayal of that purpose can justify its replacement. |
| Popular sovereignty | The people are the ultimate source of political authority. The phrase “consent of the governed” explains where government’s just powers come from. |
| Limited government | Government’s legitimate authority has boundaries. Officials cannot rightfully use their powers to destroy the rights government exists to protect. |
| Political equality | “All men are created equal” rejects a natural entitlement of some people to rule others. The stated ideal did not produce equal rights or participation for everyone in 1776. |
| Right to alter or abolish | The people may replace a government that persistently betrays its rights-protecting purpose. The Declaration presents this as a response to sustained tyranny, not every unpopular decision. |
3. Make social contract theory concrete
Illustration: People accept common laws and public institutions to settle disputes and protect their rights. They accept limits on individual action; officials acquire authority to act for the community.
The limit: This does not mean surrendering all rights or giving rulers unlimited power. A government that systematically attacks the people’s rights defeats the purpose of the arrangement.
Different questions: Social contract theory explains why people create and accept government. Popular sovereignty identifies the people as the source of legitimate authority. Limited government explains why that authority has boundaries.
Avoid these mistakes: The contract need not be a literal signed document. Consent does not mean everyone agrees with every law. Limited government does not mean no taxes or an inability to govern.
Close Reading · Eight Excerpts to Recognize and Explain
Read each excerpt and identify the principle before opening its explanation. These selections come from the National Archives transcript. Capitalization follows that transcript; ellipses mark omitted words.
Excerpt 1 · Equality
“all men are created equal”
Reveal meaning and AP connection
Political equality: People do not possess a natural entitlement to rule others simply because of inherited rank. This asserts equal moral standing, not identical talents or wealth. Slavery and political exclusions contradicted the ideal in practice.
Explain: Why could later reformers use these words to challenge unequal treatment?
Excerpt 2 · Rights before government
“certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness”
Reveal meaning and AP connection
Natural rights: People possess basic rights independently of government. “Unalienable” describes rights that cannot rightfully be surrendered or taken away. The phrase “among these” indicates that the list is not exhaustive.
Locke connection: Government protects preexisting rights. Avoid reducing the influence to a simple substitution of “happiness” for “property.”
Excerpt 3 · Why create government?
“to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men”
Reveal meaning and AP connection
Social contract: People establish government for protection and a workable political order. This passage identifies protection of rights as government's purpose.
Limited government: That purpose supplies a standard for judging officials. Government cannot claim legitimate authority to destroy the rights it exists to protect.
Excerpt 4 · Where does authority come from?
“deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed”
Reveal meaning and AP connection
Popular sovereignty: The people supply legitimate political authority. “Just powers” distinguishes rightful authority from mere ability to coerce.
Apply: Competitive elections can express consent in a representative democracy. The Declaration itself does not establish election rules or guarantee everyone a vote.
Excerpt 5 · What if government betrays its purpose?
“whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it”
Reveal meaning and AP connection
Social contract and resistance: “These ends” refers to securing rights. A government that destroys that purpose can lose its claim to obedience; the people retain authority to replace it.
Locke connection: Rulers hold a trust, and a serious breach of that trust can justify resistance.
Excerpt 6 · How serious must the problem be?
“Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes”
Reveal meaning and AP connection
Threshold for revolution: Minor or temporary problems do not meet the document's standard. The later list of grievances tries to establish a sustained pattern of tyranny.
Avoid the trap: Disliking one tax or losing one election does not automatically justify abolishing government under this argument.
Excerpt 7 · Turn a grievance into evidence
“For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent”
Reveal meaning and AP connection
Consent and representation: The authors objected to taxation imposed without their consent through legitimate representation. The grievance applies the opening principle of popular sovereignty to a concrete conflict.
AP sentence: This grievance supports the argument that British rule lacked legitimate authority because the colonists claimed it imposed obligations without their representative consent.
Excerpt 8 · The political conclusion
“these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States”
Reveal meaning and AP connection
Independence: The authors conclude that separation is justified and claim the authority of independent political communities.
Document distinction: This declares independence; it does not design the later Constitution's federal system. National independence and popular sovereignty answer different questions: independence from whom, and authority derived from whom?
Part 3 · Trace the Ideas and Authorship
4. Enlightenment influences and American sources
Enlightenment connection: The Declaration appeals to general principles about human rights and legitimate authority. It asks readers to judge rulers by reasons and standards beyond inherited status.
- John Locke: His Second Treatise of Government connected natural freedom and equality with consent, the protection of rights, and resistance when rulers violate their trust. Read Sections 4–6, 95, 123, and 222.
- George Mason: The Virginia Declaration of Rights, adopted June 12, 1776, provided an immediate American source. Its first three sections link inherent rights, power derived from the people, and the right to reform or abolish inadequate government.
- Broader intellectual traditions: Jefferson later named Aristotle, Cicero, Locke, and Algernon Sidney among the writers expressing familiar principles of public right. Not all of these writers belonged to the Enlightenment; his intellectual sources crossed eras.
- Montesquieu — a useful distinction: His ideas about separating governmental powers help explain the Constitution’s institutional design. Do not claim that the Declaration itself established three branches or checks and balances.
Religious language: The Declaration invokes a Creator and natural law. Its use of reason and natural rights does not make the text simply an argument for atheism.
5. Did Jefferson plagiarize? Investigate the evidence
Start with what is established: Jefferson drew on earlier ideas and language. The National Archives identifies Mason’s declaration as a source for the opening paragraphs. Calling all of that borrowing “plagiarism” requires a further argument about attribution, originality, and historical writing practices.
| Earlier source | What to compare with the Declaration |
|---|---|
| Locke, Second Treatise | Natural rights, consent, and a right to resist rulers who breach their trust. This is a shared structure of reasoning, not proof that Jefferson copied the entire text. |
| Mason, Section 1 | Mason described “life and liberty” and “pursuing and obtaining happiness and safety.” Compare this with Jefferson’s “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Mason’s text also explicitly included property. |
| Mason, Sections 2–3 | Authority comes from the people; government should protect them; an inadequate government may be altered or abolished. Compare the order of these claims with the Declaration’s opening argument. |
Jefferson’s explanation: In his May 8, 1825 letter to Henry Lee, he denied seeking original principles and described the Declaration as “an expression of the american mind.” He also denied copying it from any single earlier writing.
Evaluate that source: Jefferson wrote almost 49 years later and had an interest in explaining his own achievement. His letter reveals his stated purpose; it does not independently settle every question about his drafting process.
Your historical judgment: Define plagiarism, compare specific passages, and consider the expectations surrounding a collective political declaration. Neither “he invented everything” nor “he simply copied Locke” fits the evidence well. Historical context helps evaluate borrowing; it does not automatically excuse it.
For your own work: Cite borrowed ideas and quote borrowed wording. This historical investigation does not change classroom attribution requirements.
Part 4 · Test the Principles Against the Evidence
6. Connect the grievances to the political theory
- Taxation without consent: Supports the claim that rulers imposed obligations without legitimate representative consent. The objection is not that every tax is illegitimate.
- Dissolving representative assemblies: Supports the accusation that the king undermined self-government and popular representation.
- Making judges dependent on the king: Supports concerns about arbitrary rule and the loss of independent legal protection.
- Depriving colonists of jury trials: Supports the accusation that government failed to protect fair legal procedures.
Why list repeated abuses? The authors needed to demonstrate a pattern serious enough to satisfy their own standard for revolution. They also argued that peaceful petitions had failed.
AP response model: The grievance about dissolving legislatures supports popular sovereignty because it portrays the king as obstructing the people’s representatives and substituting his authority for theirs.
7. Equality: powerful principle, unequal application
The Declaration’s universal language coexisted with slavery, women’s exclusion from most formal political participation, and the dispossession of Indigenous peoples. Jefferson himself enslaved people. The Declaration did not abolish slavery or establish universal suffrage.
Read the draft against the final text: Jefferson’s draft condemned the transatlantic slave trade and blamed the king. Congress removed that passage. The draft also attacked British encouragement of enslaved people’s resistance, revealing contradictions within Jefferson’s own argument; it was not a plan for general emancipation.
Read the final text critically: Its derogatory description of Indigenous peoples exposes a boundary in the authors’ application of equality.
Analytical task: Distinguish what the document proclaimed, whom political practice excluded, and how later Americans used the ideal to challenge those exclusions. Recognizing hypocrisy and recognizing an ideal’s later political force are compatible.
8. Connect the Declaration to other AP documents
- Declaration, 1776: Explains legitimate authority, identifies rights, and justifies independence.
- Constitution, 1787: Establishes governmental institutions, powers, and limits. Its framework provides the governing system the Declaration does not specify.
- Federalist No. 10: Explains how a large representative republic can limit factions’ harmful effects, including threats to others’ rights.
- Federalist No. 51: Explains how divided authority and checks can restrain abuses of power.
- Gettysburg Address, 1863: Reaffirms equality and government grounded in the people. It is also included in the current AP framework’s Topic 1.1.
Avoid the document mix-up: The Declaration did not establish Congress, the presidency, the Supreme Court, or the Bill of Rights. Its principles are foundational, but it does not function as a detailed constitutional code.
Part 5 · Apply What You Know
Explain each answer before opening the suggested response. These are original practice prompts.
A. A ruler says that citizens possess rights only because the ruler chooses to grant them. Explain how the Declaration challenges that claim.
Reveal explanation
Natural rights belong to people before government grants legal protections. The Declaration therefore treats government as the protector of rights, not their original source. A ruler’s will does not determine whether people possess them.
B. Citizens accept common laws, but officials systematically imprison peaceful opponents and dismantle representative institutions. Apply social contract theory and limited government.
Reveal explanation
People accept political authority for protection and social order. Systematic attacks on rights and representation betray that purpose and exceed legitimate governmental limits. The Declaration’s argument links a sustained pattern of such abuses to the people’s right to replace their government.
C. A classmate claims that Jefferson simply replaced Locke’s word “property” with “happiness.” What evidence makes that explanation incomplete?
Reveal explanation
Locke’s influence extends to consent and resistance, not only a list of rights. Mason’s earlier declaration already connected life, liberty, property, and happiness. Jefferson synthesized multiple sources; one word substitution cannot explain the document’s origins.
D. Does Jefferson’s use of earlier ideas prove plagiarism? Develop a defensible claim and identify evidence you would need.
Reveal a reasoning guide
Borrowing establishes influence; it does not alone resolve the historical judgment. Define plagiarism, compare exact passages, investigate expectations for attribution in this kind of document, and evaluate Jefferson’s later explanation critically. A strong answer can criticize his borrowing or defend his synthesis, but must support its standard and conclusion.
E. Explain how the Declaration and Federalist No. 51 address the same underlying problem in different ways.
Reveal explanation
The Declaration argues that government exists to protect rights and can lose legitimacy by violating them. Federalist No. 51 defends constitutional arrangements designed to restrain abuses before they produce tyranny. The Declaration explains the standard; No. 51 explains institutional safeguards.
AP alignment: Topic 1.1, Ideals of Democracy, in the course framework effective fall 2026. Prioritize explaining political principles; the plagiarism inquiry is enrichment, not a required verdict to memorize.
Further context: Monticello: Jefferson and the Declaration. Primary-source links appear throughout the activity.