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In the Preamble of the Declaration of Independence what support did Thomas Jefferson say he would provide?

Jefferson says that he and the other members of the Continental Congress (the document was of course a joint statement) would, out of a "decent respect to the opinions of mankind," would declare the reasons, or "causes" that the colonists were declaring their independence. The causes were both ideological--Jefferson spends the next paragraph explaining the social contract theory that the revolutionaries cited in support of independence--and pragmatic. While the most famous part of the document is the statement of principles, namely that "all men are created equal," Jefferson devoted far more of the document to a series of accusations against King George. These ranged from his refusal to approve laws that were beneficial to the colonies to his alleged incitement of Native Americans against the revolutionaries after 1775. The idea was that this "long train of abuses" justified separation from the mother country, which was a big step to take.

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