The author of the Declaration of Independence was Thomas Jefferson. He was selected as the principal draftsman of this foundational document during the Second Continental Congress in 1776. Jefferson’s eloquent writing articulated the colonies' grievances against King George III and expressed Enlightenment ideals such as natural rights and the social contract. The Declaration not only proclaimed the colonies' independence from British rule but also set forth the philosophy that government exists to secure the rights of the people. Jefferson's ideas and the Declaration itself have had a profound influence on democratic movements worldwide.