Answer and Explanation
The Americans were reluctant to breaking with Britain, because they only wanted to have the same rights as British men. The Declaration of Independence states all the rights they were not given to them and all the acts of oppression the king did.
The Declaration summarized the colonists' motivations for seeking independence and the main ideas were that all men have human rights which were given to them by God, all men are equal thus the governments role is only to protect those rights so that they are not violated by anyone. And these are the rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.