The colonist soon began to voice their dislike of the actions England took against them, appealing for England to be fair in the manner in which the colonies were to be treated. The colonists soon began to rebel against the authority of England. In 1776, after the colonies could no longer address the atrocities committed by England, the colonies demanded to be separate and free from England’s rule. For a request of Independence to be made it would have to be done properly, therefore, a document called the Declaration of Independence came into existence. The most important aspects of this document are the circumstances and influences surrounding its origin and those individuals that are

Based on the events England dealt with the 17th century came to be filled with revolution in one form or another for them. The church had lost the position of holding the authoritative voice for God, and the king now had limits placed on his power in relation to his subjects. Kings were expected to rule justly in reference to God’s will, and if they failed to do so then the people would have the right to replace them. This was to set the stage for the American colonies, as they would begin to look for independence from England.

From the results of the previous circumstances, the enlightened men wrote books on the issues that man dealt with and viewed the events that occurred in the 17th and 18th centuries. One of the most influential outspoken writers of the period was John Locke. John Locke wrote his beliefs on a government and how the relationship between the government and the people should work. John Locke’s writings had a profound effect on those that wrote the Declaration of Independence. In his writings, John Locke explained how government had certain obligations to the people governed and that the power government had should be limited.

The discussion and decision of legal and illegal taxation would be a basic area of concern for the colonists. The English Parliament controlled taxation of all the English citizens, not only in the motherland but also among the colonies Britain established throughout the world. The English citizens felt that to be taxed the consent of those taxed or their representative had to give approval for any tax to be legal and to be collected. The colonists used the view that they had no representation in the English Parliament, and therefore no taxes were legal for the English parliament to impose upon the American colonies.

With all these factors it still would not explain why Jefferson was the one to actually draft the Declaration of Independence. “Jefferson was chosen to draft the Declaration because he was known to possess a “masterly pen”. Jefferson appears to have been a person that was not only able to write well; his abilities to communicate clearly and calmly come through in his writings. Jefferson’s choice of wording combined with his word placement culminated in an extremely powerful document.

In the charges the colonists levied on the king in the Declaration, it is vital to point out it is the king alone the colonists charged with atrocities against them. The king is charged with everything from abuse of power and authority to dissolving the individual forms of government in the colonies. The obvious item that is not placed in the Declaration is the English Parliament. The colonists had as much (if not more) of a complaint about what the power of Parliament was in relation to the colonies. The colonists apparently wanted to satisfy the need of being totally independent of the kingdom of Britain. Therefore, the Declaration as written allowed the colonists to declare to be separate from Britain based upon a violation of their rights and with no connection to a ruling government that had control over them.

Many of the educated men of the late 17th and early 18th centuries wrote about the relationship of man and government, man and their rights, and mans understanding of God. These writers such as John Locke and Thomas Paine expressed the views of not only themselves but of the majority of the learned men that lived during this time. The enlightened men were searching for more then what was happening; they wanted to know why and what power justified it so. These same writers had a lasting and profound effect on those living in through-out the world, as well as in America and those that were destined to write the Declaration of Independence.

John Locke further wrote the guidelines or the boundaries of government as he saw them. When combined it is easy to see the impact these had on the forming and framing of the government

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