There was a general agreement that the essential rights included life, liberty, and property long before Thomas Jefferson wrote them into the Declaration of Independence. Which statement best describes this claim?

• A. False
• B. True
• C. Not specified
• D. Unknown

Answer: (B)

The idea being tested is that natural rights like life and liberty, and property as a key right, were already part of political thinking before the Declaration of Independence. This is true. Philosophers such as John Locke argued that individuals have inherent rights to life, liberty, and property, and this view shaped colonial charters and American political thought long before Jefferson wrote the Declaration. He drew on that established tradition, even though he changed the third right to the pursuit of happiness. So the claim reflects historical continuity in natural-rights thinking, making the statement true. The other options don’t fit because there is clear evidence of this preexisting consensus; saying it’s false or unknown would ignore well-documented Enlightenment and colonial ideas.