Question

What enlightenment ideas are expressed in the declaration of independence?

Answer 1

The declaration of independence states that every man has certain rights, it also states that every man has the right to a fair trial. It states that the legitimacy of a government comes from the people they govern and that it is the government obligation to respect an uphold a man's individual rights. All of those statements find their origins in the work of enlightenment philosophers such as John Locke and Thomas Hobbes.

Answer 2

That all people are born with natural rights is one key idea of the Declaration of Independence. The power of the people to create their own government (popular sovereignty) is another key Enlightenment idea in the Declaration.

Perhaps the most memorable phrase from the Declaration is this: "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."

It is also the case that the Declaration of Independence supports the idea that government's power should be determined by the people. The very next words in the Declaration assert, "To secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed."

The founding fathers of the United States had adopted ideas about natural rights and the people's sovereignty from Enlightenment philosophers like John Locke (of England) and Baron de Montesquieu (of France).