The Declaration of Independence may be the most widely known piece of persuasive writing ever, especially in the United States. Thomas Jefferson was widely respected in the American colonies for his revolutionary principles and his eloquent use of language and words, making him the perfect choice for author of such an important document.
             Thomas Jefferson's first paragraph in the Declaration is a rough outline of the goals of the colonies. This part of the document gives insight to what the following will include. Jefferson references God and human's natural rights to give credibility to his statements in this section. Jefferson also makes an appeal to the respect of the King of Britain's credibility and the colony's respect of his power with the phrase, "...a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation." With that, Jefferson has now clearly defined his thesis and what he and the colonies hope to accomplish.
             The following paragraph is part of the same section of the Declaration but goes into more detail on the feelings the colonies and their people have. This paragraph as with the first uses God and equality to make a credibility argument for the cause. The most obvious being "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain, unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness." Out of any other words or phrases in the whole declaration; the first sentence has become the most recognized and famous not only for Jefferson but for the United States. Again, this phrase is an account of credibility on why the colonists should be represented before they are taxed. One of the most interesting themes of the whole document, and this section especially, is Jefferson's use of capitalization to emphasize points. Words such as, Life, Libe
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