Declaration of Independence

By writing and signing The Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson highlighted his strong disapproval towards the nature of the totalitarian state of government.  His recommendations towards war against this form of government are made clear through his writing.  He was willing to take enormous risks, that put his own life in jeopardy, in order to destroy totalitarianism in America.  However, his ideas were somewhat hypocritical, as he owned a large number of slaves both before and after the American Revolution.
    Thomas Jefferson expresses his strong opposition towards the totalitarian state of government on many occasions in The Declaration of Independence.  On page 78, he wrote, “all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.  That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.”  This thought entirely opposes totalitarian methods of thinking, which are of the mindset that the purpose of the governed is to provide for their government.  On pages 79 and 80, Jefferson listed all of the wrongs done by the king, which are the wrongs of totalitarian government in general.  They involve wrongdoings such as refusing “his Assent to Laws”, and dissolving “Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people”, which are examples of totalitarian ways of self interest.  Jefferson recommends war as the inevitable solution to this problem, on page 74, when he wrote, “whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute new government.”  By saying this, Jefferson claimed that it was the right of the people to go to war, as Great Britain’s government had become destructive towards the rights of the governed.

Through his partaking in The Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson took incredible risks for the good of the American people.  The website, “www.thetruthconnection.com”, discusses the consequences that fellow signers of The Declaration of Independence faced as a result of their protest.  It states that out of the fifty six signers, five were captured and tortured to death by the British, and twelve signers suffered the burning of their homes.  It is certain that if the British were to have captured Thomas Jefferson, the author of the document, he would have faced punishment more severe then the signers previously mentioned, as a result of his actions.  Even more risk was taken for freedom, as The Declaration of Independents eventually lead to the American Revolution, in which nine more signers were killed, as well as the sons of two signers, proving that Thomas Jefferson and fifty five other men were all willing to risk everything for what they believed to be the benefit of their country.