The ideas which inspired the Declaration of Independence were thought to apply to all people. It goes back to the ideas of the social contract and the purpose o

The ideas which inspired the Declaration of Independence were thought to apply to all people. It goes back to the ideas of the social contract and the purpose of the government. That's why the Americans felt justified in breaking from Britain in what some consider the first revolution of their kind in history... men such as Jefferson really believed that the government was not protecting the rights they believed all men had. Maybe they were justified or maybe they weren't, but this was the justification they used to break from Britain. Others have used these same ideas to break away from tyrannical rule far worse or overthrow previous governments.