JEFFERSON’S RESOURCES

Jefferson drew on a wide number of sources when he drafted the Declaration of Independence. He relied on a blend of Enlightenment philosophy, colonial political documents and contemporary revolutionary writing. Enlightenment thinkers like John Locke, European moral and political writers such as Cesare Beccaria, Scottish thinkers like Francis Hutcheson and Thomas Reid including American writers like Thomas Paine. Jefferson relied on Paine’s Common Sense for concepts pertaining to human and natural rights. His own Draft of the Virginia Declaration (1776) listed the grievances that became the “train of abuses” in the Declaration. These are documents he was using to refine ideas he worked on before Congress asked him to write the first draft of the Declaration.

The most influential pro-independence publication was Paine’s Common Sense. It strongly emphasized and disagreed with monarchy and was heavily in favor of immediate separation from the Crown. The Library of Congress notes that Common Sense “paved the way for the Declaration more than any other single publication.” Jefferson didn’t copy Paine, but the ideas in Common Sense shaped the political climate and the urgency of independence.

The preamble Jefferson wrote discussing natural rights, equality, the purpose of government echoed Enlightenment ideas. The concepts he wrote in the Declaration can be traced to all of the European political philosophers whose writings he synthesized rather than inventing new ones. He blended ideas into a uniquely American statement.

The Declaration reflects the shared political philosophy of the colonies and not as a single author’s invention. The debates in Congress shaped the final text as much as Jefferson’s draft.  

Neil Perry - Staff Writer