Many of the basic ideas of the Declaration of Independence were inspired by the Enlightenment philosophy of thinkers such as John Locke, Thomas Paine, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau. These thinkers promoted concepts such as natural rights, social contract theory, and the idea of government by consent of the governed, which influenced the founding fathers in crafting the Declaration of Independence. Additionally, the grievances outlined in the Declaration were based on the colonists' experiences of perceived injustices and abuses by the British government.
