continuing until “it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security,” say nothing about Britain or the colonies. Neither is mentioned until the end of the second paragraph, after the philosophy has been laid out. As Professor Stephen Lucas has observed, the Declaration argues by syllogism. Jefferson argues his major premise first and Britain’s violation of that premise second:18 Major Premise Because governments are instituted to protect citizens’ rights, people have a right and a duty to throw off despotic governments and to
...more
