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Abstract

This paper will examine the interplay among key figures, events, and political documents of the Founding era to demonstrate how Thomas Paine’s Common Sense and the Virginia Declaration of Rights directly shaped the philosophical foundations and rhetorical structure of the Declaration of Independence. Published in January 1776, Paine’s pamphlet rapidly became the most influential political text of the revolutionary moment, reframing colonial grievances as part of a larger moral struggle against hereditary monarchy and political corruption. Paine’s accessible style and uncompromising argument for popular sovereignty catalyzed public support for independence at a time when many colonial leaders remained uncertain. His insistence that legitimate government arises only from the consent of the governed created a political climate in which a formal declaration of independence became not only feasible but necessary. Concurrently, the Virginia Convention, led by prominent statesman George Mason, adopted the Virginia Declaration of Rights in June 1776. As the first American document to articulate an explicit catalogue of natural rights—including liberty, property, and the pursuit of happiness—and to affirm the people’s right to alter or abolish an unjust government, it served as a constitutional model for other colonies. The language and philosophical claims in Mason’s declaration profoundly influenced Thomas Jefferson, who later that month drafted the Declaration of Independence. Jefferson’s preamble, in particular, echoes Virginia’s articulation of universal rights and the grounding of political authority in the people. By situating Common Sense and the Virginia Declaration of Rights within the broader revolutionary context, this paper argues that these texts provided both the ideological justification and political momentum for the creation of the Declaration of Independence. Their combined influence reflects the convergence of grassroots mobilization, intellectual leadership, and constitutional innovation that defined the Founding era.

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