The Declaration of Independence was the document that declared the U.S. Thirteen Colonies free from the rule of the Kingdom of Great Britain and with full independence and sovereignty. In the Preamble of the document, Thomas Jefferson (Its author) holds that people have the right to alter or overthrow their government and institute a new one not for "light and transient causes" but when the government becomes destructive, when it does not longer secure people's right of Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness and it rules under absolute despotism.