Which document announced formal separation from Britain and justified it through natural rights and consent of the governed?

Which document announced formal separation from Britain and justified it through natural rights and consent of the governed?

• A. The Slavery Issue
• B. Declaration of Independence
• C. Paine's Common Sense
• D. The Large Republic Argument

Answer: (B)

The key idea here is that legitimacy of government is based on natural rights and the consent of the governed, and when rulers violate those rights the people may choose to dissolve the relationship and form a new government. The document that publicly declares the colonies’ separation from Britain and grounds that act in those Enlightenment principles is the Declaration of Independence. It asserts that people have unalienable rights—life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness—and that governments derive their authority from the consent of the governed. When a long train of abuses shows that the king has failed to secure those rights, the colonies have a right to alter or abolish their government and institute a new one. Common Sense, while influential in arguing for independence, is a persuasive pamphlet rather than the formal declaration itself. The Slavery Issue and The Large Republic Argument are not the documents that announced formal separation or served as the primary vehicle for articulating independence grounded in natural rights and consent.

The key idea here is that legitimacy of government is based on natural rights and the consent of the governed, and when rulers violate those rights the people may choose to dissolve the relationship and form a new government. The document that publicly declares the colonies’ separation from Britain and grounds that act in those Enlightenment principles is the Declaration of Independence. It asserts that people have unalienable rights—life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness—and that governments derive their authority from the consent of the governed. When a long train of abuses shows that the king has failed to secure those rights, the colonies have a right to alter or abolish their government and institute a new one.

Common Sense, while influential in arguing for independence, is a persuasive pamphlet rather than the formal declaration itself. The Slavery Issue and The Large Republic Argument are not the documents that announced formal separation or served as the primary vehicle for articulating independence grounded in natural rights and consent.