Final answer:
The first paragraph of the Declaration of Independence establishes Enlightenment principles, emphasizing people's unalienable rights and the need for a government's power to come from the consent of the governed.
Step-by-step explanation:
The first paragraph of the Declaration of Independence asserts the fundamental Enlightenment principles of popular sovereignty and the natural rights theory as penned by philosopher John Locke. It claims that when a government fails to protect the unalienable rights of the people, which include "Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness," it is not only the right but the duty of the people to alter or abolish that government and institute a new one that better secures these rights. The paragraph serves as a philosophical foundation for the colonists' separation from Great Britain, emphasizing the equality of all men and the necessity of government to derive its powers from the consent of the governed.