Jefferson and the Declaration, Chapter 2

What does Jefferson mean when he writes… “it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bonds which have connected them with another…”?

Explain the meaning of “the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God” in the context of the document?

Why should man be required “…that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation” as stated?

What does “self evident mean”?

What does “Unalienable” mean?

Whose ideas does Jefferson reference when he writes, “that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

What type of government is referred to by “Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just power from the consent of the governed.”

What evidence is there that Jefferson believed that the colonies should rebel against Great Britain?

What was Jefferson’s tone?

What were the three main complaints of the colonists?