In the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson made the case for independence from Great Britain by applying ideas from the Enlightenment. Tell which ideas in the Declaration of Independence were inspired by the Enlightenment and explain what those ideas meant to Jefferson.
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Some of the ideas from the Enlightenment that were incorporated into the Declaration of Independence include the belief in natural rights, the social contract theory, and the right to revolution. Jefferson believed that individuals possess inherent and inalienable rights, such as life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, which are bestowed by nature and cannot be taken away by any government. The social contract theory, developed by Enlightenment thinkers like John Locke, argued that governments derive their power from the consent of the governed, and that people have the right to alter or abolish governments that violate their rights.