The consent of the governed is an idea born of the enlightenment and the writings of john Locke. This is the idea that a government gains its power via the willingness of the people to support it. The US system expresses this notion by holding elections in which the people (the governed) select their representatives to govern (there by giving consent).
deriving their just powers from consent of the governed
That whenever any form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the people to alter or to abolish it.-Apex
john Locke
The social contract
The ideas embodied in the 1776 Declaration of Independence have not been changed. What has been changed are societies and governments seeking to create better societies. One of the beliefs of American abolitionists was that the American Declaration clearly, in their minds, showed Americans that slavery ran counter to the words of the declaration.
According to the Declaration of Independence, governments are created to protect the rights granted to all people, known as unalienable rights. That means they cannot be taken away. Governments get their power from the people they govern. If the government cannot protect the rights of the people or if the government becomes destructive of the rights of the people, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish the government. If a government has been in operation for a long time, the Declaration indicates that peaceful means should be attempted to solve the problems, via the ballot box, laws, etc. However, if the government has become dictatorial or a unconstitutional monarchy then violent revolution may be the only course for the people.
That whenever any form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the people to alter or to abolish it.-Apex
john Locke
john Locke
John Locke.
John Locke.
The social contract
limited government
The words Jefferson wrote show that his thinking was greatly influenced by john Locke. In fact, a passage in the second paragraph of the Declaration clearly was inspired by Locke's ideas about natural rights in Two Treatises of Government.
limited government
We don't have the phrase you were given so we can't answer the question.
The declaration of independence and the U.S. constitution (apex)
In the second paragraph Jeffersn writes that when a government becomes abusive it is up to the people to change that government ( I have paraphrased it). This shows that the people are the source of government. In this time it is an revolutionary idea because for a 1000 years the world had been ruled by monarchy and this turns that idea on its head. If you think of it as everyone on a ladder with the king at the very top and everyone else below him, but when the people choose the government the ladder is knocked down with no king and everyone equal.