The Declaration of Independence

Nonfiction | Essay / Speech | Adult | Published in 1776

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The Social Contract and the Legitimacy of a Government

Though the document sets up no laws or governmental structure beyond merely stating the existence of a new country, the Declaration of Independence is predicated on the social contract theory, a philosophical idea dating back to Socrates but redefined throughout the Enlightenment. Jefferson was particularly interested in the theories of Locke, who believed that political society is a voluntary association that people join for mutual benefit. On this model, people give up certain rights to join a political society, but governments have an obligation to protect an individual’s rights to life, liberty, and property (phrasing very similar to the Declaration of Independence’s “unalienable rights” of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”). If a government fails to protect these, the people may form a better one.

The Declaration states that “governments are instituted among men” and derive “their just powers from the consent of the governed.” Then, it states that any government that is “destructive of these ends” may be abolished and replaced with a “new government.” All of this is justified by the “Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God,” as a government that fails to protect the natural rights of its citizens is illegitimate. The list of grievances in the Declaration is intended to show that the king has failed to do the bare minimum required by the social contract. It states the king “has abdicated Government here, by declaring [the colonists] out of his Protection and waging War against” them. Later, it states that he has even burned down American towns and “destroyed the lives” of the people there. These actions are “totally unworthy” of “the Head of a civilized nation.” Since the king has not protected the colonists, the colonists have a “duty” to “dissolve” their ties to his government.

Since all power derives from the people, a government that does not allow the people to be heard is illegitimate. The Declaration of Independence makes note of repeated attempts to petition “for Redress in the most humble terms,” petitions that have “been answered only by repeated injury.” Additionally, the British government has deprived the colonists of representation both in Parliament and in their colonial governments. The king has “dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly” and made it impossible to “cause others to be elected.” This leads to taxes being imposed “without [the colonists’] Consent” and the “State remaining in the meantime exposed” to various dangers both externally and internally. If the people have no representatives, then they cannot be heard, and if all governing power depends on the people’s consent, the king’s power is illegitimate.

Freedom from Tyranny

The Declaration defines George III as a “Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant.” And the king’s behavior is described as contributing to “an absolute Tyranny over these States.” “Tyranny” is a term with multiple definitions, but the most common meaning in 1776 came from Ancient Greece and refers to a person who rules a place or a people without having the legal authority to do so. While George III was clearly the legal ruler of Great Britain, the colonists argue that he has no legal authority over them. Since “Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,” and the colonists no longer consent to be governed by the king, he is by definition a tyrant. To explain why they no longer consent, the Declaration argues that he has neglected his duties to protect the colonies from Native Americans, forced military rule over them, and “destroyed” the lives of the people. That behavior makes him a “tyrant” also on the common definition of the term today: “a cruel, unreasonable, oppressive, arbitrary, or unfit ruler.” To the colonists, the only way to ensure that their freedoms and rights are protected is to dissolve their ties to Great Britain and start anew.

Equality as a Human Condition

Perhaps the most famous line of the Declaration of Independence makes it clear that the author and signers believe that the natural state is one of equality: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.” At other points in the document, Jefferson attempts to prove that the colonists are equal with other British subjects. He refers to “an unwarrantable jurisdiction” that has been cast over the colonies and notes attempts colonists have made to remind their “British brethren” of the reasons and “circumstances” of the colonists’ “emigration and settlement” in America. Though the colonists consider themselves “kindred” with other British subjects, they have been ignored. The colonists believe that they too should have the right to “consent” to taxes and to make laws that are “wholesome and necessary to the public good.” These are rights given to all British citizens by, as the Declaration states, “the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them.” That is, equality is granted by a higher authority than the king.

It should be noted that the eighteenth century’s conception of equality is not the same as today’s. For instance, 41 of the 56 signers of the Declaration owned slaves. Additionally, few seemed to regard women as equal to men. One of the grievances even seems to imply the inferiority of Native Americans by mentioning the dangers posed by “the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.” Still, the ideal of equality, even if it is incomplete by today’s standards, is a radical theme of the text, which causes the Declaration of Independence to be celebrated today not merely for its historical significance but also for its role in the evolution of society, philosophy, and human history. The Declaration makes a statement not only about Great Britain and its colonies but also about humanity. Its revolutionary idea of universal equality makes the document applicable to all people and has inspired many freedom struggles in later generations.