The American Declaration of Independence, written primarily by Thomas Jefferson in 1776, is a beloved document and a symbol of freedom in the hearts and minds of Americans. The iconic, tripartite “slogan” of this document is the right to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”. And although this is for many the most memorable sentence of the document, the actual content focuses much more on the abuses and offenses of King George III than on these inalienable rights. In fact, Jefferson lists twenty-seven specific abuses of King George III out of the three inalienable rights listed. The question then arises: why does Jefferson analyze his case for independence in this way? This essay seeks to demonstrate that Jefferson chose to focus on abuse rather than ideology because of his personal beliefs about eugenics and to engage his actual audience (the American people rather than George III). Also included is a discussion of criticism of the Declaration of Independence (hereafter just criticism) and its attempts to undermine the Declaration. Thomas Jefferson, while a well-read statement and an eloquent writer, was also a typical white slave owner. He typically kept 200 slaves on his lands at both his Monticello home and his Albemarle plantation. Unlike some enlightened thinkers of his time, Jefferson did not kill his slaves for the sake of his ideals. He only freed a few of them and they all belonged to the family of his lover, Sally Hemings. Being a prolific and good writer, Jefferson's views on many topics are well documented to this day. In a letter to John Adams, Jefferson makes his view on heredity known: “As experience shows that the moral and physical qualities of man, whether good or bad, are transmissible in a certain de... half of paper. ..... the man because of his beliefs about eugenics and the public for his work. The small space given to the discussion of inalienable rights could be completely eliminated from the document and there would be more reasons than necessary left to justify America's rebellion against its colonial ruler and therefore any argument focusing on this part is invalid. A similarly invalid argument would be to dispute the price of a purchase by claiming that the phone number listed on the receipt was incorrect and therefore the entire purchase should be free. You could omit the phone number altogether and leave the price and therefore the buyer's debt. The telephone number is included for an alternative purpose, which is to allow the buyer to contact the merchant. Likewise, human rights statements are inserted to inspire the public rather than to fully justify the war against England.