American Revolution & self-determination

A desire for self-determination is the core of the American Revolution. The people of the American colonies revolted against British rule because they did not have the right to decide for their own political future. Aristocrats who knew nothing about the American experience, conditions in the colonies, or the American people, made decisions as to their well-being and proper governance. Government's power comes from the consent of those governed, and the colonists had not given …

…Robert Livingston and Thomas Jefferson. Thomas Jefferson was the major drafter of the Declaration of Independence. On July 4, 1776, Congress approved the Declaration of Independence. It declared, in part, ``that these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent states, that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the state of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved.''