Final answer:
Thomas Jefferson, in the Declaration of Independence, believed it was the people's right and duty to overthrow a government that infringes upon their rights. This idea was based on natural rights philosophy and was a fundamental reason for the American rebellion against British rule.
Step-by-step explanation:
Thomas Jefferson, the writer of the Declaration of Independence, believed that when a government takes away the rights of the people, it is the right and duty of those people to overthrow that government. This revolutionary idea, drawn from the principles of natural rights philosophy and particularly influenced by the writings of English philosopher John Locke, was a cornerstone of the Declaration. In it, Jefferson stated that governments are instituted to secure the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and when any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it. The Declaration includes a lengthy list of grievances against King George III, illustrating the British government's failure to uphold these rights and providing the colonists' justification for seeking to establish a new government that would.