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-The Declaration reflects several ideas of John Locke: Government's duty to protect the people's natural rights .
- People have the right "to alter or abolish" unjust governments
-Popular Sovereignty- all government power comes from the people -
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-They saw the government in terms of official social contract in which "We the people of the United States" entered.
-There was also a separation fo powers among the judicial, legislative and executive branches; a concept borrowed from Montesquieu.