Thomas Jefferson directly states the reason the Declaration of Independence had to be written as the necessity for the American colonies to dissolve the political bands connecting them with Britain because a tyrannical government was threatening their natural rights. He explains that when such a situation arises, it becomes necessary for one people to assume a separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and nature's God entitle them. This is the justification for declaring independence and exercising the right of revolution
. In the introduction to the Declaration, Jefferson emphasizes that the document's main purpose is to explain the colonists' right to revolution by declaring the causes which impel them to separation. The Declaration was written to prove the legitimacy of this cause to multiple audiences-including the King, the colonists, and foreign nations-to rally support and justify the break from British rule
. In summary, Jefferson states that the Declaration was necessary because the British government, under King George III, had engaged in repeated injuries and usurpations aimed at establishing tyranny over the colonies, thus justifying their right to declare independence and form a new government that would secure their safety and happiness
