There are a number of writings that are credited with influencing the creators of the Declaration of Independence. Specifically, the works of John Locke and Thomas Paine were a huge influence on Thomas Jefferson.
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The purpose of government, Locke wrote, is to secure and protect the God-given inalienable natural rights of the people. For their part, the people must obey the laws of their rulers. ... Jefferson adopted John Locke's theory of natural rights to provide a reason for revolution.
Thomas Jefferson is often credited as the sole writer of the document, but the Declaration (1776) was a collaborative effort.Jefferson was the one responsible for writing both the first and final draft. However, he was actually part of a committee appointed by the Second Continental Congress to write it. The other four members were Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Robert R. Livingston and Roger Sherman, all of whom provided recommendations on the language of the document.Thomas Jefferson was the main writer of the Declaration of Independence. The Draft of which was heavily edited by the Continental Congress can be seen in: Adrienne Koch and William Peden eds., The Life and Selected Writings of Thomas Jefferson (New York: Random House, 1944).Thomas Jefferson
According to the Declaration of Independence, the purpose of the government is to secure natural rights for the people. Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration, borrowed this idea and many others from the work of political philosopher John Locke.
As Enlightenment spread throughout Europe and the Americas a common link was seen - the need for power to be removed from the select few who had been in the ruling class for generations and give it to the people. Through the Declaration of Independence, America's founders fostered a nation based on the governing body include the thoughts and needs of the little people throughout the country rather than the President and Congress having all the power.
The Declaration of Independence is a document based on the beliefs of the founding fathers and was mostly written by Thomas Jefferson. Enlightenment? At that time, the colonists were pretty fed up with taxation without representation, had been influenced by the writings of Thomas Paine...in particular "Common Sense"....and were already involved in the American Revolutionary War. If you mean enlightenment ideas of one person in particular, the main man was definitely Thomas Jefferson....Virginia gentleman.