Which ideas are found in Thomas Jefferson's writings in the Declaration of Independence?

Which ideas are found in Thomas Jefferson's writings in the Declaration of Independence?

• A. Life, Liberty, and Pursuit of Happiness; Government Derives Power From the People; People Can Remove Government; All Men Are Created Equal
• B. Divine Right of Kings; Obedience Required
• C. Mercantilist Policy and Colonial Administration
• D. Religious Establishment by the State

Answer: (A)

The ideas being tested are the natural rights and popular sovereignty arguments Jefferson uses in the Declaration. It asserts that people have unalienable rights—specifically Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness—and that governments derive their authority from the consent of the governed. When a government fails to protect those rights, the people have the right to alter or abolish it and to establish a new government. It also states that all people are created equal, a foundational premise for legitimate political authority. These concepts come from Enlightenment thinking, especially John Locke, and frame the Declaration’s argument that political legitimacy rests on the consent of the people and their innate rights, not on divine-right or hereditary rule. The other choices don’t fit because they align with monarchic justifications, mercantilist economic policy, or state-sponsored religion, none of which reflect Jefferson’s emphasis on natural rights, equality, and consent-based government.

The ideas being tested are the natural rights and popular sovereignty arguments Jefferson uses in the Declaration. It asserts that people have unalienable rights—specifically Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness—and that governments derive their authority from the consent of the governed. When a government fails to protect those rights, the people have the right to alter or abolish it and to establish a new government. It also states that all people are created equal, a foundational premise for legitimate political authority.

These concepts come from Enlightenment thinking, especially John Locke, and frame the Declaration’s argument that political legitimacy rests on the consent of the people and their innate rights, not on divine-right or hereditary rule. The other choices don’t fit because they align with monarchic justifications, mercantilist economic policy, or state-sponsored religion, none of which reflect Jefferson’s emphasis on natural rights, equality, and consent-based government.