Civics Collection
Explore the Declaration of Independence

The Preamble

The preamble to the Declaration of Independence is heavily influenced by Enlightenment philosophy. Several key Enlightenment ideas are included in this passage:

  • natural rights: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are the rights that come from nature, not from government, laws or customs, or a ruler
  • social contract: an agreement between the people and the government; the people agree to surrender some of their freedoms and submit to the government or ruler in exchange for the government’s protection of their natural rights
  • equality: all men are equal in that they all are born with the same natural rights
  • popular sovereignty: government based on the consent of the people

Read the first part of the preamble below and then complete the matching activity that follows.

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The Preamble
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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--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

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