Question

“We hold these truths to be self-evident: That all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness;...”

This quotation is evidence that some of the basic ideas in the Declaration of Independence were:

(2 points)
Responses

adaptations of the laws of Spanish colonial governments in North America.
adaptations of the laws of Spanish colonial governments in North America.

reflections of the philosophies of the European Enlightenment.
reflections of the philosophies of the European Enlightenment.

adoptions of rules used by the Holy Roman Empire.
adoptions of rules used by the Holy Roman Empire.

imitations of the principles underlying most European governments of the 1700s.
imitations of the principles underlying most European governments of the 1700s.

Answer 1

reflections of the philosophies of the European Enlightenment.

(Enlightenment thinkers like John Locke argued for natural rights—life, liberty, property—which influenced Jefferson’s wording.)