Final answer:
The Declaration of Independence represented colonial ideals and government principles by asserting popular sovereignty, natural rights, and the social contract. It proclaimed that all men have unalienable rights such as life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and that governments are created to protect these rights with the consent of the governed.
Step-by-step explanation:
The Declaration of Independence definitively demonstrated the colonists' ideals and the concept of a colonial government by articulating their reasons for independence from Britain. Drafted by Thomas Jefferson and ratified on July 4th, 1776, it espouses the Enlightened ideals of popular sovereignty, natural rights, and the social contract, as influenced by philosopher John Locke.
The core principles as outlined in the Declaration include the belief that 'all men are created equal', are 'endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights', and among these are 'life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness'. Governments are instituted to protect these rights, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.
If a government becomes destructive of these ends, it's the right of the people to alter or abolish it. It underscored the ideas that Americans have fundamental rights, the people are the best judges of their government, and they are free to change a government that does not serve them. The Declaration’s preamble is a powerful testament to these ideals, which later influenced the American Constitution and the founding of the United States government