The American Revolution established the United States as a nation built on the idea of citizens' rights and freedoms. It was revolutionary in its time, because governments than typically had been in the interests of those at the top of society (kings and aristocrats). But the American Revolution put power in the hands of the people, and that revolutionary idea still holds true. We still think of the United States as having the ability to pursue revolutionary change, including changing who is in control in government, based on what is good for the people. Thomas Jefferson expressed this ideal in the Declaration of Independence (1776):
- We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.
