The Declaration of Independence. Thomas Jefferson, one of the authors, used Locke's famous phrase to profoundly express how life as an American citizen would be fundamentally different from that of a British colonist. It was Locke's phrase that made the Declaration truly stand out as an original and forward-thinking document. “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, and that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, which include life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness (Declaration,