Declaration of Independence

The United States Declaration of Independence is a statement adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, which announced that the thirteen American colonies then at war with Great Britain were now independent states, and thus no longer a part of the British Empire. Written primarily by Thomas Jefferson, the Declaration is a formal explanation of why Congress had voted on July 2 to declare independence from Great Britain, more than a year after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War. The birthday of the United States of America- Independence Day-is celebrated on July 4, the day the wording of the Declaration was approved by Congress.

from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Declaration_of_Independence

Thomas Jefferson succeeded Benjamin Franklin as minister to France in 1785. His sympathy for the French Revolution led him into conflict with Alexander Hamilton when Jefferson was Secretary of State in President Washington's Cabinet. He resigned in 1793.
Sharp political conflict developed, and two separate parties, the Federalists and the Democratic-Republicans, began to form. Jefferson gradually assumed leadership of the Republicans, who sympathized with the revolutionary cause in France. Attacking Federalist policies, he opposed a strong centralized Government and championed the rights of states.

from: http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/thomasjefferson/

The Declaration of Independence
While reading this well argued essay you will see that some sentences/phrases are discarded. The reason is that if this kind of contract would include these sentences it would not be signed by the representatives of the colonies, for example: "(...) This piratical warfare, the opprobium of INFIDEL powers, is the warfare of the CHRISTIAN king of Great Britain (...)."

document can be find at: http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/document/congress.htm