Natural Rights
These are rights people are born with.
What are natural rights?
What is the main purpose of government according to the Declaration?
To protect people’s rights.
What is a grievance?
What is a formal complaint?
Who was the main author of the Declaration of Independence?
Thomas Jefferson
Name one natural right listed in the Declaration.
What is life / liberty / pursuit of happiness?
Where does government get its power from?
The consent of the governed.
Identify one major grievance related to taxation and explain it.
What is taxation without representation—colonists were taxed without a voice?
This part explains why the document was written.
What is the Preamble?
According to the Declaration, who gives people natural rights?
Who is the Creator?
What can people do if the government fails to protect their rights?
Change or abolish it.
Name three grievances listed in the Declaration.
Taxation without representation, quartering troops, no fair trials.
Name one other member of the writing committee.
Who is John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, or Robert Livingston.
Can the government take away natural rights? Why or why not?
No, because people are born with them.
Why was this idea considered radical in the 1700s?
It challenged the divine right of kings.
Name one grievance related to courts or laws.
No fair trials or laws made without consent.
Which Enlightenment thinker influenced ideas about natural rights?
Who is John Locke?