Robin,

I think that the simplest answer to your questions is that Jefferson  
pulled ideas and phrases from a host of Enlightenment political  
philosophers. Much of Jefferson's language at the beginning of the  
Declaration of Independence came directly from George Mason's  
phrasing in the Virginia Declaration of Rights, which had been  
adopted on June 12, 1776. Jefferson, who excelled at encapsulating  
and synthesizing the ideas and expressions of others, thought that  
Mason was among the wisest of men in Virginia.

Mason wrote in Virginia Declaration of Rights,  "That all men are by  
nature equally free and independent and have certain inherent rights,  
of which, when they enter into a state of society, they cannot, by  
any compact, deprive or divest their posterity; namely, the enjoyment  
of life and liberty, with the means of acquiring and possessing  
property, and pursuing and obtaining happiness and safety."

For comparison, here is Jefferson's phrasing, written a couple of  
weeks later in what is often though incorrectly referred to as  
Jefferson's "original Rough draught" of the DOI: "that all men are  
created equal & independant, that from that equal creation they  
derive rights inherent & inalienable, among which are the  
preservation of life, & liberty, & the pursuit of happiness."

Best,
Edward Ragan


On Jul 17, 2007, Robin Gabriel wrote:

>> I guess my larger question is how did the phrase come to be  
>> written into the Declaration of Independence?
>>
>> Thanks,
>> Robin Gabriel
>> Monticello Education Department