The Declaration of Independence asserted America's independence from Britain. The document outlines the natural rights of men and how the British government had infringed upon those rights. It is a revolutionary document in more ways than one. It attempted to show the legal and moral basis of the war for independence.‬

The concept of “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” as natural rights of human beings is rooted in Enlightenment thought. This part of the Declaration of Independence can be traced very directly to Locke's writings. The idea is that we are born with these rights. If governments do not respect them, people have the right to overthrow that government. That's what the Americans did.



What is the purpose of the second paragraph of the passage?

A
to describe the history of the writing of the Declaration of Independence

B
to explain how the Declaration used the ideas of John Locke and the Enlightenment

C
to detail how the American colonists won the Revolutionary War

D
to support the claim that Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence