well hey there and welcome back to him history now in this video we're going to consider our first foundational document for AP Government namely the Declaration of Independence ever heard of it I genuinely hope the answer to that question is yes but even if it isn't after this video you'll know everything you need to know about it for this course so if you're ready to get them brain cows milked then let's get to it okay the Declaration of Independence basically has three sections a preamble a list of grievances against King George III and a resolution for Independence and we'll focus mainly on the Preamble because what's emphasized in this course is the influence of of Enlightenment ideals on the writing of this document and the Preamble is positively bursting with the thinky thinky of the Enlightenment in case you don't know it was Thomas Jefferson who wrote it so the first part of the Preamble is a justification for why the American colonists are breaking up with Britain and here Jefferson writes when in the course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the Earth the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and Nature's God entitle them a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation in other words if you're going to break up with somebody and you have to start a revolution to do it the decent thing to do was to try to explain why you're doing it now let's stop for a moment why didn't the Americans just start a revolution why did this document have to be written well the audience here is very important I mean Jefferson could have just sealed this document up and sent it straight to King George in an envelope after all the Grievances are against him but this document was not meant to be private it was published widely throughout the colonies and in the Western World so the larger purpose of this document was twofold number one to rally the troops to fight at home and to secure foreign allies who would be able to help the Americans win this war that by All rights they should not have won okay now after the first sentence here's where the enlightenment thought really kicks in 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 now as I mentioned in the topic video on this subject this line is a clear example of natural rights Theory which came from many Enlightenment thinkers but most famously from John Lock and his second tretis on civil government and you have to understand what a massive statement this is Jefferson said that the rights of life liberty and the pursuit of happiness are given to people by their creator and if you're paying attention that means that the rights do not originate from the government or a king which further means that these basic natural rights cannot be taken away by a government in fact the whole reason that people create governments is to watch over and protect their natural rights which is exactly what Jefferson says next that to secure these rights governments are instituted among men deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed so to protect natural rights people create governments and where does the government get its power from the consent of the governed which is to say from the people now all of that is a complimentary set of ideals from rouso namely popular sovereignty and the social contract popular sovereignty means the power to govern is in the people's hands and then the social contract means that people willingly surrender some of that power over to a government in order to protect their natural rights okay so follow the logic here people are born with natural rights that belong to them just by virtue of the fact that they were born a human being then in order to protect those rights from infringement the people create a government by their consent and isn't that great everybody's rights are protected and it's just a big utopian hugfest well no not exactly as it turns out governments can be tured and they can break that social contract by infringing on the rights of its citizens and so what happens in that case well Jefferson's about to tell us that whenever any form of government becomes destructive of those ends in other words doesn't hold up its end of the bargain it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it and to Institute a new government laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form as to them shall seem most likely to affect their safety and happiness so what happens when the government turns out to be a tyrannical turd you flush it and then its place you build a new government which will uphold the purpose of protecting the natural rights of the people and that is essentially what the colonists attempted after this document was published all right that's what you need to know about the Declaration of Independence for AP Government click over here for a playlist that contains the videos on all the foundational documents and if you want help getting an A in your class and a five on your exam and may then click right over here and grab review packet thanks for watching himler out