Final answer:
The Declaration of Independence was influenced by the Enlightenment, the Magna Carta, and the English Bill of Rights, which shaped the colonists' beliefs in popular sovereignty and natural rights.
Step-by-step explanation:
The Declaration of Independence was influenced by the Enlightenment, the Magna Carta, and the English Bill of Rights. These influential documents and ideas shaped the colonists' beliefs in popular sovereignty, natural rights, and the idea that the king was not above the law. For example, Thomas Jefferson drew on the ideas of John Locke, an Enlightenment philosopher, to express the colonists' belief in their inalienable rights that no ruler could deny.